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Excellent post - and thanks for the information. The most chilling aspect of this whole affair, to me, isn't even the data mining in and of itself.

I mean, after all, to a large extent we expect our law enforcement agencies to have the ability to identify patterns of criminal behavior as a means of stopping crime. And anyone with half a brain knows that all those blips and bytes of the electronic DNA we're leaving everywhere are being stored in a virtual filing cabinet in some large concrete room, nothing more than an unavoidable side effect of computer physiology.

So ever since I signed my first car loan in 1974, I've known that some government official somewhere keeps a dog-eared manilla folder with my name on the tab, stuffed to the gills with information about the trivia of my life. I don't necessarily like it, but until this Administration siezed power in 2000, I'd never been this outraged and terrified that it might be erroneously used against me.

And considering who was President then, that's saying a lot.

Which brings us to the heart of the matter, the aspect of the wiretapping scandal that should scare us all shitless - the outrageous fact that George Bush and his gaggle of loyalists, thugs, and cronies are the very individuals who get to define what "criminal" means. Have they earned that trust with their razor-sharp evaluation of... well, of anything in the last five years?

I'm talking about the ludicrous fact that this bunch, which has set new standards for the meaning of incompetence, is contending that they have the intelligence to connect those dots at all. Whether they're collecting data legally or illegally, does anyone in this nation truly believe that Bush and Company could find their way out of a room with four open doors?

And then there's the dangerous fact that this White House and its friends in Congress arrogantly believe that they've got all the legal authority they need to do whatever they damn well please, without oversight, behind closed doors, with an ever evolving list of excuses and "precedents" and rationales. They don't even bother any more to be coy about it, as Karl Rove's open threat against the Judiciary Committee's GOP members this week clearly indicates.

No, it's not that manilla folder that's got me worried. What chills me to the bone is the knowledge that the people who are charged with evaluating it comprise the most corrupt, inept, duplicitous, insidious Administration of my half-century on the planet.

One additional thought:

It occurs to me that in regards to the topic of domestic spying and data mining, we should all take genuine pride in being a part of the progressive blogosphere. At the precise time that the nation is nervous about the potential dangers of citizen dossiers in the hands of a repressive government, we are making our innermost thoughts a matter of public record.

With the full knowledge that this Administration would gladly take any action it deems "necessary" to pinpoint and suppress its detractors, we're shouting out "Here we are - and we won't be silenced!"

In an era when a significant percentage of our population has been frightened into compliance and secrecy, we're exposing our disdain, defiance - and locations - on a regular basis.

Kudos to you and other liberal bloggers for hanging it out there every day. Data mine this, motherf#%kers!

Thanks for the very thoughtful comments, Bob.

I agree, the fact that public and private agencies have bits of information on us is no secret. But it's the connecting of the dots that bothers me. Now isolated agencies aren't just storing pieces of info independently of each other, the government wants to collect all this data on me and look for patterns in it.

So if you're the curious sort and you buy what the government considers the "wrong" books, and your left-leaning posts include the "wrong" words, and someone whom the govt is watching happens to like your blog and posts comments to it, you may be in trouble.

And that's if the system is being used with the best of intentions. In the hands of unscrupulous administrations like the current one, the potential for abusing this pervasive intrusion on your every move is frightening.

Data mine this is right. ;-)

This is an excellent post, and I have to say I have the same concerns as Bob who said:

Which brings us to the heart of the matter, the aspect of the wiretapping scandal that should scare us all shitless - the outrageous fact that George Bush and his gaggle of loyalists, thugs, and cronies are the very individuals who get to define what "criminal" means.

To expand upon Bob's words, Bush and his administration are also abusing the court system in the way they bring perceived criminals to trial. What happens if a computer flags Joe Smith as a possible terrorist and the administration takes it upon itself to throw him in jail based on dubious data? How long will they let him sit there? It could ruin an innocent persons life to sit in jail for a week - let alone months - while the incompetent government people try to sort it all out.

Thanks Kathy. And you're right, mistakes will be made and lives will be ruined.

What about the protecting the privacy of the 99.99% of snoopees who don't happen to be terrorists? Supposedly, privacy protections will be built into the system.

And if you believe that, there is this bridge in NY that I'd like you take a look at--wonderful investment opportunity.

But seriously. There is a fair chance that some money for looking into privacy was included in the original allocations. Remember, that after the TIA debacle, they had to make sure that any additional appropriations passed congressional muster. (As well as give congresspersons on the Appropriation's Committee plausable denail), but I'll bet the money was stripped as the program went along.

If this thing does go through, they'll have to have some privacy protections built in just for appearance's sake. But they will be an afterthought, and they will be minimal.

BTW, I do happen to be in the market for a bridge. Good location? ;-)

The best...THE BEST! It's got a beautiful view of Cokeland and Sodom by the Sea and was only slightly damaged in an earthquake about 15 year ago--just a teeny weenie collapse of one section--nothing to worry about.

Keep up the great work on your blog. Best wishes WaltDe