General Ripper, I Presume

You know I'm a big fan of the fourth amendment. Oh, well maybe you haven't been paying attention, but anyway, this muthafucka should be witness numero uno and they should rake him over coals for this one, a great pick-up over at kos.

GEN. HAYDEN . . . Just to be very clear -- and believe me, if there's any amendment to the Constitution that employees of the National Security Agency are familiar with, it's the Fourth. And it is a reasonableness standard in the Fourth Amendment. And so what you've raised to me -- and I'm not a lawyer, and don't want to become one -- what you've raised to me is, in terms of quoting the Fourth Amendment, is an issue of the Constitution. The constitutional standard is "reasonable." And we believe -- I am convinced that we are lawful because what it is we're doing is reasonable."

Scary, scary shit that.