How vast was my database

Let's see. We only tap calls with a warrant. We only tap calls without a warrant when it's an international call. We never tap wholly domestic calls. We're only targeting terrorist suspects. Four presidential reassurances that don't really seem to jibe with this revelation:

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. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.

Hey, it's not like they're listening, right? They're just keeping track of every call to see if they need to listen. It's totally different.

"It's the largest database ever assembled in the world," said one person, who, like the others who agreed to talk about the NSA's activities, declined to be identified by name or affiliation. 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.

The three telecommunications companies are working under contract with the NSA, which launched the program in 2001 shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the sources said. The program is aimed at identifying and tracking suspected terrorists, they said.

You see, it's all about efficiency of scale. By amassing records on tens (or hundreds) of millions of ordinary Americans, it'll be very simple to sift through them to find a handful of terrorists. In the same effective manner we sifted through mountains of international communications by Al Qaeda suspects and managed to prevent.... oops.

No, I don't think you'd find many law enforcement experts who argue that effective crime-fighting starts with a suspect list of fifty million people.

The man who was heading up this operation? Michael Hayden, the man nominated to head the CIA. Oh, and in other news, Bush assures us that this isn't illegal. I feel better already. Except for the fact that pretty much every phone company in the nation willingly handed over their records lock, stock and barrel to the government without probable cause or a warrant.

Finally, some news that would probably be of concern if Fearless Leader weren't so totally committed to transparency and accountability:

The Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility has closed its investigation into the Bush administration’s warrantless domestic surveillance program because investigators were “denied the security clearances needed to conduct a probe.” Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) called the denial of clearances “hard to believe.”

Thanks to Mil Apodos for getting the ball rolling on what will undoubtedly be the new big story on the blogs.