I've just read and commented in like the 10th damned diary on the latest NSA revelation, and would like to say:
Geez! All of the talk about switching carriers, boycotts, etc. misses the point (AGAIN!) and forecloses meaningful action (AGAIN!) Take a deep breath and follow me below the flip.
For those of you who haven't read my diatribes for the past three years, my bio includes a 4-year stint as a SIGINT analyst in the army, during which time I served in Korea and at NSA. I could tell you more about "how things work," but despite my unabated hatred of all things Bush (spurred on by the fact that the bastard sent my child on combat tours in Baghdad and Kandahar) I am a true believer in the value of SIGINT to real (not imagined or faked) national security issues.
Let's start by asking about the disclosure du jour - WHY is this information being made public right now? It's not anything new, at least not since 9/11. I would suggest the following reasons:
(1) The people at the CIA don't want a four-star general in command of their organization.
(2) The people at the CIA don't want someone who answers directly to Rumsfeld in command of their organization.
(3) The people at the CIA are sick of the Bushco shenanigans and how they got stuck "holding the bag" on the WMD fiasco, when in fact, the career folks said there were no WMD in Iraq.
(4) Hayden pissed off many at NSA by abrogating decades of principles embodied in USSID 18 and fucking spying on our own people.
(5) There is much internecine warfare going on at the tops of our military branches - much of it directed at Air Force generals (like Hayden) by Army and Marine Corps generals because of mistakes being made during the past five years.
Hayden and all that is wrong with the leadership in intelligence and strategic military branches has been served up on a silver platter AGAIN - it's time for Congress to start carving and serving it up. Yes, it will take political courage. Yes, it will take principled stands. Yes, it will take saying, "fuck you" to partisan hacks and pollsters in both parties. But in the end, Congress' job is to provide oversight, policy, law, and funding for ALL operations of the government.
We don't have a king in this country. Rather than focus on multi-national conglomerates who could give a rat's ass what we have to say, why not focus on the 535 members of Congress who could stop ALL of the abuses of power immediately if they wanted to?
I'm just sick and tired of the hand-wringing, buck-passing, and ineffectiveness of the legislative branch of the government. Don't give me some platitude about how this is why Dems need to win in 2006 - let them start by taking a stand now. Shut down the damned government. Filibuster until answers are received. Down with the king!