America's Oh-sh*t Moment

This has been the week when Americans discovered their government was less than perfect. 

There is a clear explanation of what has come to pass following the Twin Towers attack.  Like the cries of Cassandra, some of us saw it coming. Read it at this link.  That's enough to keep anyone busy for the weekend.

Or if you prefer, the link below is a cliff notes version. 

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BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE: A DOMESTIC SPYING Q&A

By Matt Apuzzo, AP
Jun. 7, 2013 

Shortly after the attacks, Congress hastily approved the USA Patriot Act. That gave the government wide new powers to collect information on Americans. In the first few years, news coverage focused on how the FBI would use these new powers to seize phone, bank and library records. 

Separate from the Patriot Act, though, President George W. Bush authorized the National Security Agency to conduct a highly classified wiretapping program. Normally, the government needs a warrant to spy on Americans, but Bush allowed the NSA to eavesdrop on U.S. citizens, read their emails and collect their phone records — all without warrants.
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This week, Americans have gotten a glimpse at a government surveillance machine that has been churning for years, gathering information on its citizens. 

The stories are important not because they show rogue, illegal government spying. They matter because they reveal, in stark fashion, what the government has made legal over the past decade and where that has taken the country.