Whose side are they on anyway?
USA Today has breaking news to report. Its amazing news that is so timely, so important, so...well, breaking...it was first reported last December by the New York Times. Way to go suckers!In an attempt to smear the current CIA director nomination of Air Force General Michael Hayden - and continue the usual media assault on our national security - the USA Today released a story today that suggests the NSA is trolling our phone calls.
This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
Michelle Malkin has a real nice summary of this blatant attack on the current administrations attempts to keep our country safe. And be sure to read Confederate Yankee's take on this in-your-face media bias.
My view can best be summed up with one word...SO???
Would someone from the USA Today tell me if their company has ever used reader data to analyze ad placement? Story popularity? Direct marketing? Of course they have! The USA Today, or any paper for that matter, compiles data of reader and user information on a daily basis. It's a general practice of any company wishing to learn trends of their customers.
Hell, I just got off the phone with a company that showed me how to read the trends of people who have signed up for my sports newsletters. It allows me to target various customers with emails they might wish to receive. It's one of the most basic principals of marketing.
The NSA has a job to do. Their job is to protect us. If studying calling trends could help break up a potential threat, go for it! Phone records aren't the hardest date to come by anyhow. And since when is it news that our phone companies are giving away our info? Sign up for free long distance through any major carrier and you'll notice the telemarketing right away. Do you think your number just got into their system by luck?
What worries me most about this story isn't the fact USA Today is trying to smear the NSA or our President. What worries me is that yet another media organization has just exposed another way our country was trying to protect us. Which leads me to ask, whose side are they on anyway?