Bush is a dirty spy, Part 6

OK, so the news that the government is buying our phone records is not new, but I want to add my view anyways. Really, this seems pretty innocent. I don't even have a regular phone, so they aren't going to find my records. However, I think the outcry from liberals should not be surprising since it seems like they (we...kinda) don't trust the administration to use this data appropriately. Just what are they going to find? Who knows, but if I were you I would change to Qwest just to be safe or even go with Skype or Vonage. They don't have accurate records.

Here is the real question, though. If they are so confident about the legality of these practices, why are they so secretive about these programs? The simple answer from supporters is that you need to keep these programs secret in order for them to be effective. Here is the scenario they see:

CIA: Hands up terrorist, you're under arrest!
Terrorist: You got me infidel, but how did you figure out my evil plan?
CIA: We were wiretapping your phone and heard your plan.
Terrorist: You can do that?!? I never knew that the U.S. had that ability.
CIA: That's why we control the world.
Terrorist: Man, do I feel sheepish. Well done.

Do they really think the terrorists just use the phone freely to discuss their plans? I'm sure they know that wiretapping is 1930s technology and they do a lot to protect their conversations. So I ask again, why so secretive? I would argue that they are using this technology and data for other reasons. Any terrorist plan that gets busted by wiretapping was likely going to fail either way.