The document shows for the first time that under the Obama administration the communication records of millions of US citizens are being collected indiscriminately and in bulk - regardless of whether they are suspected of any wrongdoing."

The order, a copy of which has been obtained by the Guardian, requires Verizon on an "ongoing, daily basis" to give the NSA information on all telephone calls in its systems , both within the US and between the US and other countries.

"The National Security Agency is currently collecting the telephone records of millions of US customers of Verizon, one of America's largest telecoms providers, under a top secret court order issued in April.

We heard today this today from those "persistent" journalists in the UK :

The White House responded by digging up an old George W Bush speech and said this:

"The Obama administration on Thursday defended the National Security Agency's need to collect telephone records of U.S. citizens, calling such information "a critical tool in protecting the nation from terrorist threats."

To be fair, we want our government checking up on terrorists. However, this is a massive program and raises serious questions about surveillance.

The order calls on Verizon to turn over "calls", within the US and between the US and other countries. This is very broad!

The order targeted Americans not foreigners, according to Forbes. I would like to have an explanation of that!

Last, but not least, this is not the Obama that so many voted for!

There must be a lot of indigestion this morning at the "yes we can" summer camp.

Wonder what they think of "hope and change" this morning?

Maybe they should read Ron Fournier's "Welcome to the Bush-Obama White House: They're Spying on Us".

Of course, one big difference is that President Bush was upfront about fighting terrorism. On the other hand, President Obama pretended to be "the anti-Bush" with self righteous statements about transparency and then went beyond anything that Bush did.



