Say No to Sycophantism

First, the article from USA Today that started it all here. According to the report, "Among the big telecommunications companies, only Qwest has refused to help the NSA...". After Joe Nacchio's tendencies for fraud, I could never imagine praising Qwest, but here I am: Qwest deserves our admiration in standing up to intimidation of the worst kind from the suits over at the NSA.

Here's Glenn Greenwald on the legal implications of such data collection. Suffice it to say, not only is the NSA flouting our nation's laws, it is intimidating telcos into becoming accomplices. As expected, our Great Leader called a press conference and said everything is legal and a-okay:

""First, our intelligence activities strictly target al-Qaeda and their known affiliates...."

If that were true, then we have to assume that every Verizon, SBC/AT&T and Bell South customer whose data the NSA collected is affiliated with al-Qaeda. This is just absurd, and it would be comical if the situation weren't so grave and concerned our most fundamental rights as Americans. Folks, let's vote these autocrats out of office this November and in November 08.