The Phone Records Scandal

The fact that the government is collecting records on every call made within the United States is a bit troubling but not as bad as it seems at first. In order to access the data, agents have to first get clearance from a judge.

What is not clear is easily these requests are granted or how wide reaching they are. Given the current administration's overreach on surveillance, we need to know more about the program before we can properly judge it.

One thing that is clear though is that the man in the White House is not the man who people thought they elected. Candidate Obama was against surveillance programs such as this. President Obama has extended them.

It should not go unremarked that many of the people who are defending this program condemned it under President Bush. That implies that the program is needed and that the objections were purely political.