So, the Justice Department has ended its probe into the National Security Agency’s warrantless wiretapping program. NSA wouldn’t allow investigators from Justice the security clearance needed to properly look into the matter. American citizens must now and forever hereafter take the administration’s word that having 72 hours to secure a FISA warrent (after the fact, no less) just isn’t enough.

I guess checks and balances don’t work within branches of government, just between them.

Is it just dumb luck that happens on the same day USA Today reports that NSA has, since Sept. 11, 2001, broadly collected information on millions of citizen’s telephone calls? (Note: I wanted to link to USA Today, but they don’t have permalinks.) Am I the only one that thinks “using the data to analyze calling patterns” is an awfully blunt and wide-ranging tool to catch terrorists?