In the long annals in which the lefty bloggers were right about everything, here's another. This time it’s from our long, long fight against the surveillance regime that grew out of the "war on terror." We argued in particular that the NSA program suctioning up data from domestic phone calls and text messages that was the outgrowth of the Bush/Cheney lawless warrantless wiretapping program was not just unconstitutional (which Congress shamefully took care of by allowing it), but it was ridiculously ineffective.
Well, guess what the National Security Agency just decided? Yep: "The National Security Agency has recommended that the White House abandon a surveillance program that collects information about U.S. phone calls and text messages, saying the logistical and legal burdens of keeping it outweigh its intelligence benefits, according to people familiar with the matter." There is now a "a growing belief among senior intelligence officials that the spying program provides limited value to national security and has become a logistical headache."
Yes, we told you so.
Turns out "there was skepticism within the NSA about the utility of the metadata-surveillance program" years ago, before Edward Snowden leaked the existence of the program back in 2013. But once there was backlash against it, the intelligence community felt like they had to defend it publicly. Which they've done up until now. They're admitting now, though, that the "candle is not worth the flame," in the words of one intelligence officer.
It appears now that the NSA is willing to let it die. It's up for congressional reauthorization this year, and the only one who seems interested in keeping it around is Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. He recently said that it's his intent to reauthorize the program, and if "we have technical problems or challenges that NSA has to take into account, that's OK. […] It's not something we easily shelve." Seems like Burr needs to do some catching up, as the NSA doesn't have any problems shelving it.