Hold the Outrage - Americans Aren't Upset About NSA Program

Based on a new poll that was released this morning, it looks like the only people outraged about the NSA collection of phone numbers are the press and a handful of congressional Dems:

A majority of Americans initially support a controversial National Security Agency program to collect information on telephone calls made in the United States in an effort to identify and investigate potential terrorist threats, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The new survey found that 63 percent of Americans said they found the NSA program to be an acceptable way to investigate terrorism, including 44 percent who strongly endorsed the effort. Another 35 percent said the program was unacceptable, which included 24 percent who strongly objected to it.

A slightly larger majority--66 percent--said they would not be bothered if NSA collected records of personal calls they had made, the poll found.

Underlying those views is the belief that the need to investigate terrorism outweighs privacy concerns. According to the poll, 65 percent of those interviewed said it was more important to investigate potential terrorist threats "even if it intrudes on privacy." Three in 10--31 percent--said it was more important for the federal government not to intrude on personal privacy, even if that limits its ability to investigate possible terrorist threats.

This is what makes all the posturing by Pat Leahy, Teddy *hiccup* Kennedy and others so silly. It's either faux outrage designed to play well in the press, or they're hopelessly out-of-touch with the American people. My guess is it's a about 50/50 of each.