I watched Good Night and Good Luck last night. The movie was decent. Fairly slow, and not all that much happens. It details Edward R. Murrow’s investigation on television of Senator McCarthy’s anti-communism witch hunts in the 50s. Scary to think we were there just 50 years ago, when people in media were afraid to do stories on someone or something in our government for fear they would be attacked and possibly “investigated” (which in the days of the McCarthy hearings was basically being accused, tried, convicted and sentenced without due process). Good thing times have changed:

CNN.com - Bush condemns disclosure of secret anti-terror program - Jun 26, 2006

They’re looking at suing the NYT for disclosing this. That just makes me sick. We’re just supposed to all be quiet and trust the Bush administration to decide what crosses the line and what doesn’t in anti-terror investigation? Just how far do these secret programs of spying on banking, phone conversation, etc. go? What puts a flag on you and what doesn’t? There is SOME oversight for these actions in Congress, but the main beef the media and many others have is it is not sufficient. The Bush administration is pushing at the legal and constitutional limits of the bare minimum of oversight, and this is a threat to our civil liberties.

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?