I have to say I am just so STUNNED by this....

The FBI broke its own rules?

It can't be.....

The FBI possibly violated the law or its rules more than 1,000 times since 2002 in collecting data about phone calls, e-mails and financial records while investigating terrorism or espionage suspects, FBI officials said on Thursday.

The potential violations found by an FBI audit were far greater than the approximately two dozen previously documented violations in a U.S. Justice Department report released in March that was based on a much smaller sampling, they said.

The vast majority of newly discovered violations were instances in which companies, such as telephone and Internet providers, gave more information than the FBI sought, the officials said.

They said the FBI has drafted new guidelines in an effort to prevent future abuses, but civil liberties groups and Democrats in Congress expressed doubt that they would be sufficient to protect the privacy of Americans.

The ongoing audit concerned the use of national security letters, which allow the FBI to compel the release of private information such as communications or financial records without getting court approval.

Their use has grown dramatically, mainly as a result of powers granted to the FBI under the USA Patriot Act, an anti-terrorism law Congress approved after the September 11 attacks.

I wonder why those companies supposedly forced the poor FBI to take more information than they really wanted? Could it be that what was verbally demanded of these companies differed from what was on paper? Or could it be that these companies have been led to believe that their "cooperation" included these kinds of "errors?"

I am sure if we just said "pretty please" we could all get our civil liberties back. After all, our own Vice President ASSIDUOUSLY protects his own privacy in the residence that I help pay for. So does just about EVERYONE in the White House, actually.

What's good for the goose should be good for the rest of the country, right?