As I mentioned several times here on MT.Net, I have admired the work the NSA has done in keeping our nation’s secrets while searching for those of other nations.

The key phrase in that last sentence is, of course, other nations. The NSA of which I was a part didn’t spy on Americans. In the acronym-happy military vernacular, that would be a CEM: a Career-Ending Move. We were proud to respect our nation’s cherished Fourth Amendment while providing early warning of threats to our country.

I used to respect Gen. Michael Hayden, DIRNSA, too. He had a tough job retooling the NSA to match the dramatically changing communications landscape caused by the explosive rise of the Internet. Overall he was successful, too. But I no longer respect Gen. Hayden, as he was far too willing to take the Fourth Amendment and USSID 18 – the laws which govern unreasonable search and seizures – and feed them to the shredders. Hayden has dodged questions on domestic spying before (full transcript here), which doesn’t instill confidence that he’ll keep the NSA focused on the real, external threats.

Imagine my dismay to read USA Today’s story that major phone companies willingly forked over calling records to NSA without a warrant. This is clearly a violation of the Fourth Amendment, USSID 18, and the spirit of NSA’s charter.

I expected this kind of behavior from the communist countries I used to oppose when I wore a uniform. I didn’t expect it from my own country

You remember the one, right? The “land of the free?”