Bush hates our freedom, Part 13. (So, apparently does the Paper of Record)

This makes for some dark contemplation: Bush taps U.S. citizens' international calls, without obtaining warrants, and when the New York Times finds out, it delays reporting for a year.

Earlier in the week we see the Washington Post caving to pressure from the WH over Dan Froomkin's blog, and now we see that the NYT has been self-censoring. It lets out the truth at this time not because the perceived security threat is less but, more likely, because Bush has become so vulnerable.

This is dark, sad stuff.

The Washington Post, currently under fire because of the above Froomkin incident as well as the Bob Woodward CIA flap, weighs in on the covert, warrantless wiretapping. Scariest money quote:

Most of the powers covered under that law are overseen by a secret court that meets at Justice Department headquarters and must approve applications for wiretaps, searches and other operations. The NSA's [National Security Agency] operation is outside that court's purview, and according to the Times report, the Justice Department may have sought to limit how much that court was made aware of NSA activities.

We can only hope this turns the tide against the renewal of the USA Patriot Act. We can no longer trust the well-being of our country to the secret manipulations of the Bushlings and their hack Justice Dept. This is a disgrace and a threat to us all.