shady dealings

As taken from the Raw Story, choose one.

1. The terrorist threat to this country is real. We need to do everything possible to make our nation safe, and we need to it in a way that preserves our civil liberties. [Hmmm... that might be an argument *against* the wiretap program. Let's see about the next one.]

2. As a member of an intelligence committee of Congress, I am fully committed to that goal. We are the watchdogs of the Intelligence Community, including the National Security Agency that is carrying out the Terrorist Surveillance Program. [Err... I thought it was the Wiretapping Ordinary Americans Program, my mistake! But in any case this talking point isn't any good unless you're a committee member, a lapdog^H^H^H^H^H^Hwatchdog of the intelligence community. How about the next one?]

3. I have been briefed on the Program and stood on the operations floor at NSA to see first-hand how vital it is to the security of our country and how carefully it is being run. [Ok, so you've read articles in the press instead. But that's probably as good as the Congressional briefings. And if you're in the Bay Area, you've probably stood in the street outside the building on Folsom Street to see first-hand how secure it is... n't.

4. It would be irresponsible to reveal details because that would give our adversaries an advantage. My colleagues and I are very serious about protecting our nation's secrets. [Good thing, since Libby and Rove don't seem to be! But, seriously, folks, the only people who don't know these details by now are the... American people. Can't you let us in on the secret?]

All right, I just can't do any more of these with a straight face. But I do notice that the NSA puts in a plug for technology neutrality there at the end of its list. I wonder if we can use that to argue for Net neutrality legislation, maybe piggyback it somehow? No? Shucks, I was hoping to get *something* good out of this.