In a rare burst of almost candor, a spy chief nearly admits that he’ll trample all over our privacy rights if confirmed.

When a government spy chief admits he’ll “push right up to the line” you can rest assured he’ll approve going way OVER the line that you and I might establish under the same laws.

His opinion of where “the line” is drawn will differ radically from our opinion as citizens.

When someone like the ACLU challenges his opinion of where the line is, and a court agrees with the challenge, the spy chief will explain that he just made a good faith mistake. That dog won’t hunt, except among the extremist talk show spinwits.

The spy chief and his team already know pretty well where courts will end up drawing the line, and the spy team will go FAR OVER that line until the ACLU beats them in court.

That’s been the history of all spying organizations.

In my book, he’s telling us that we don’t really have any meaningful privacy from government snooping anymore.

The New York Times > Washington > No. 2 Intelligence Nominee Testifies on Privacy Rules: “ASHINGTON, April 14 - The Air Force general nominated as the country’s No. 2 intelligence official said Thursday that American intelligence agencies needed to push ‘right up to that line,’ established under privacy laws, in using eavesdropping, surveillance and other tools to gather information.

The nominee, Lt. Gen. Michael V. Hayden, told the Senate Intelligence Committee that he was committed to ensuring that all American intelligence activities fell within the bounds defined by the law and the Constitution.

But after six years spent heading American eavesdropping, as director of the National Security Agency, General Hayden also made the case that agencies needed to be aggressive in employing their powers.”