This blog post is full of good information & links.
This is based on leaks from AT&T, and testimony from the former CEO of Qwest. If true, it explains the desperation with which the telco industry is lobbying for retroactive immunity, doesn’t it?
If true it is also terrifying because it shows that Bush/Cheney came into office on day one and immediately started a domestic surveillance program, which suggests that there was an understanding between them and the NSA beforehand that that’s what would happen if they got elected.
The idea of candidates for office being in collusion with the most secretive and unsupervised intelligence service even before they take office is something out of a bad “it can’t happen here” scare novel.
But pretty much everything since 2000 has been out of a bad “it can’t happen here” scare novel.