USAToday reports NSA is actually watching nearly every call we make, anyone’s calls, purely domestic included, tens of millions of people’s call detail records being watched.

Our government really is watching all of our calls, obtaining detailed records of our purely domestic calls, all of us, or as many as they can get their hands on.

It appears “Fear of Osama” is causing us to self destruct.

History teaches us that benevolent dictators are still dictators, and that the Next dictator will not be so benevolent.

Big Brother truly watches all things, and we are truly ALL under suspicion. Your friendly neighborhood RadMod is nearly speechless. I feared such things were occurring, but hoped not. I want to process the implications of this revelation, rather than just lash out viscerally.

Someone with experience in the field of data mining has offered some thoughts on the usefulness, or lack thereof, of raw phone number data: A data miners perspective. The miner is skeptical of the government’s ability to do anything terrorist-related with such data, because terrorists fly under the data mining radar screens.

Speaking of how the government can’t use the cell phone data to find terrorists who fly under the radar, The government CAN and admits it DOES use the data to track REPORTERS. [brrr… cold chill]

Thoughtful early analysis from others

REVIEWING THE LEGALITY: Is it legal, or illegal, for Big Brother to watch all of our domestic phone calls? See this review of the legality of Big Brother watching all domestic calls, which is a thoughful diary by a concerned member of DailyKos. the NSA program initially appears to possibly violate the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986.

But even if technically “legal”, as in “not explicitly prohibited”, it’s simply UnAmerican for the government to watch all of our telephone calls. I’m having a hard time imagining how freedom loving people could accept this kind of Big Brotherism.

BUSH ADMIN CROSSING THE CONSTITUTIONAL LINE AND TRYING TO POSSESS ALL THREE BRANCHES OF POWER ON SOME ISSUES: On any issue that the President decrees to be “war on terror-related”, the President has in effect seized all three powers: The power to Make New Laws (by ignoring existing laws), Execute those Laws, and Determine their legality (by refusing to seek judicial review and stonewalling others from seeking review). See Glenn Greenwald’s thoughtful analysis showing how the Bush administration has rolled up the Legislative, Executive AND Judicial branches into itself, if effect.

If Bush says DO IT, then it’s Legal, according to Bush. Isn’t that how dictators do it? We hope it’s a benevolent dictatorship. The GOP-controlled Congress still refuses to provide a check or balance, so it seems that the fear has yet to resonate with the President’s Most Politically Powerful Supporters.

Excerpts from this incredible USAToday report are below. Notice that the NSA’s goal is to create a database of Every Call Made.

After you read the article excerpted below, consider that the USAToday article may have a slight inaccuracy in it: The phone companies probably didn’t give phone records to the NSA, they helped NSA tap the main Switches so NSA could Take the Phone Data Themselves

[update] USAToday seems to now think that perhaps only AT&T gave full access to the NSA, from among the largest phone companies.

Imagine What Else must be going on. I suppose our wildest imaginings might very well be completely within the bounds of reason.

LINK: USAToday reports NSA monitors purely domestic calls for tens of millions of Amercans, as AG Gonzalez had hinted at earlier

The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.

The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren’t suspected of any crime.

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The agency’s goal is “to create a database of every call ever made” within the nation’s borders, this person added.

For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.

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The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.

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The NSA’s domestic program, as described by sources, is far more expansive than what the White House has acknowledged.

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With access to records of billions of domestic calls, the NSA has gained a secret window into the communications habits of millions of Americans. Customers’ names, street addresses and other personal information are not being handed over as part of NSA’s domestic program, the sources said. But the phone numbers the NSA collects can easily be cross-checked with other databases to obtain that information.

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Among the big telecommunications companies, only Qwest has refused to help the NSA, the sources said.

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The usefulness of the NSA’s domestic phone-call database as a counterterrorism tool is unclear. Also unclear is whether the database has been used for other purposes.

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The agency told the companies that it wanted them to turn over their “call-detail records,” a complete listing of the calling histories of their millions of customers. In addition, the NSA wanted the carriers to provide updates, which would enable the agency to keep tabs on the nation’s calling habits.

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The domestic and international call-tracking programs have things in common, according to the sources. Both are being conducted without warrants and without the approval of the FISA court.

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… Qwest’s lawyers asked NSA to take its proposal to the FISA court. According to the sources, the agency refused.

The NSA’s explanation did little to satisfy Qwest’s lawyers. “They told (Qwest) they didn’t want to do that because FISA might not agree with them,” one person recalled. For similar reasons, this person said, NSA rejected Qwest’s suggestion of getting a letter of authorization from the U.S. attorney general’s office. A second person confirmed this version of events.

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