I'm not terrifically surprised to see snap polls showing surprising support for the NSA's latest step into Orwellian territory. First, this is a bit quick for any impressions to be cemented. My guess is the public will look, over the next couple of weeks, for experts and pundits to give them cues on how to react. That the administration is poring over your call logs is a bit weird, but sans context, not the most unsettling thing in the world. Given the furor in the Senate, on the news, and even on Hannity and Colmes, I'd be surprised to see opinions remain so favorable.
But maybe it won't. The advent of the internet has left us a world where personal information is shockingly accessible. Indeed, half the time, we're the ones clamoring to publicize it, starting Live Journals and MySpace profiles. In a realm where the people you date expect to be googled before lunch, where we offer our credit card numbers and home addresses to virtual vendors, and where Amazon greets you with a personalized list of books you'll like reading, the proliferation of public information may have inured Americans to outrage over something as seemingly mundane as call logs. We'll see.
