Phone, Bank Records Have Always Been Pilfered by Government

Seems that the big media, especially the New York Times and USA Today, have been blasted big-time by stories they have either screwed up or released without "clearance" with an administration "at war."

USA Today has backed off an earlier story claiming that big-name phone companies have in effect allowed government intelligence access to their phone-call records. The paper has actually printed what could be termed a retraction, after the phone companies in question denied they had ever granted the U.S. government blanket access to private phone records.

The Times is even worse off with the brutal story about continued U.S. government intelligence monitoring of international banking transactions, ostensibly to track "terrorist groups."

Sure, these stories sound shocking, but who's kidding whom here? The publishing of these stories changes nothing - for decades, U.S. government intelligence operations have routinely tapped into phone and bakiong records whenever they want. There is nothing surprising about it.

Now, you might think these intrusions are committed for high-profile crooks like Al Capone, who wasn't nailed for murdering people to propagate his Depression-era crime empire, he was nailed for tax evasion which required wholesale release of the man's financial dealings.

During Watergate in the 1970s, all kinds of bank records were hijacked, leaked screwed around with and ground up into information hamburger in order to finally wreck Richard Nixon's presidency. Same goes for the Bill Clinton impeachment and the never-ending Whitewater probe that led to staggering intrusion on private phone and bank records.

So why the indignation over recent "startling disclosures?" Who cares? If you don't think the U.S. intelligence apparatus can't gain this knowledge whenever they want, you've lived in a cave. Tax returns, driver's licenses, vehicle registrations, credit-card purchases, your own personal bank account . . . you don't think tha government can steal that information any time they want? They can, thery have and they will.