Prometheus 6

Why We Listen
By PHILIP BOBBITT
London

IN the debate over whether the National Security Agency's eavesdropping violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, we must not lose sight of the fact that the world we entered on 9/11 will require rewriting that statute and other laws. The tiresome pas de deux between rigid civil libertarians in denial of reality and an overaggressive executive branch seemingly heedless of the law, while comforting to partisans of both groups, is not in the national interest.

This one is from the free section of the New York Times. The opening paragraph is an example of the false "balance" Paul Krugman decries in the pay section.

The title is significant because the author is a Brit (I am sooooo tempted to use xenophobe code words here, but I'll pass for the moment). England has been deep into public surveillance for years...so deep that this year they're implementing a system that will track the movements of every car in the country, in real time.