WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 - Months after the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States to search for evidence of terrorist activity without the court-approved warrants ordinarily required for domestic spying, according to government officials.

Under a presidential order signed in 2002, the intelligence agency has monitored the international telephone calls and international e-mail messages of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people inside the United States without warrants over the past three years in an effort to track possible "dirty numbers" linked to Al Qaeda, the officials said. The agency, they said, still seeks warrants to monitor entirely domestic communications.

At the time this information became public people were shocked. There was a general consensus that wiretapping al-Quaida was a “good” thing, because, after all, “they hate our freedoms.” The general excuse given was that there was an immediacy or urgency in monitoring these communications, and that the 72 hour cushion of reaction time that the FISA law provided might not be enough time to prepare the paperwork necessary to fight the “evil-doers.”

Then, it became known that not only had Mr Bush authorized listening in to telephone and electronic communication between al-Quaida sources, but also between al-Quaida and news reporters, including Americans, and people were again shocked and a bit uncomfortable. But, of course, what is the sanctity of a reporter’s sources and the First Amendment when compared to the danger (repeated daily) of another 9/11?

Back in December, 2005 I, and others, like Jeff Huber, speculated that this was a blind; Mr Bush was interested in wiretapping every dissenting American voice that was critical of his malAdministration. Many of us felt extremely uncomfortable about this, but we were reassured that everything was fine – nothing to see here – move along, move along.

USATODAY, ummm today, in fact:

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.

So now we see, in classic Bu$hCo fashion that the goalposts have moved once again. First it was wiretapping al-Quaida, then a-Q and journalists, then Americans talking to people overseas, and now Americans talking to other Americans – but “only the phone call history,” implying that the words weren't really recorded ya know.

We hereby announce a contest: the reader who most closely guesses how long this latest lie will stand will win a prize - $25.00 given in your name to the progressive political movement, PAC, institution, or politician of your choice. The reader who is closest to the time and date when this latest bit of fertilizer collapses in the sunlight of whistleblowing gets the prize. No need to tell me your name. I’ll get it, along with your address, phone number, names and birthdates of yourself, your spouse, children and grandchildren from General Hayden.