Well duh, the really hot stuff is now securely classified out of reach of the investigators.

"said chief spokesman Patrick Bumgardner."

Patrick Bumgardner.

Bumgardner, that's a real name? Ha ha ha ha ha.

News at 10 - "People amused by sex", "Sex causes titilation", "Bored Intelligence workers pass the time listening in on sexy calls". News?

We expect the soldiers to kill villages of people, but we claim to be annoyed or shocked to hear that they listen in on a few calls. It's spin. The real message is the war in Iraq and Afghanistan is over.

Iraq is a mess, just like our leaders wanted. Lots of infighting and destabilised regimes so the country cannot band together and rebuild quickly and take back it's oil from our thieving murdering leaders.

And in Afghanistan those pesky religious dudes cut heroin production by 90%. So we send our soldiers to product the poppy fields, as seen on British TV. Heroin production is back up, success for Bush, Blair etc.

Yeah this administration is an outrage, most americans agree, and if he could run a 3rd term they'd vote him in again with 70% of the votes....

Tell me something they haven't been doing since the first time someone picked up a government line and made a call.. 
DUH!!! It's the fed's line these people are using. If the phone is placed "by the book" there's sposed to even be a sticker on the thing stating it's subject to monitoring.
Talk about items you're not supposed to on these unsecure lines, and they'll even disconnect the call and report your transgressions.
Claim was made by "former" monitoring employees... The term former should tell y'all something to start.. Ya gotta screw up REAL bad to get canned from a gov job. Also means they are simply trying to stir up trouble because they got canned.

Yes these lines are monitored... Yes they are paid for by the taxpayers... Yes it doesn't cost the troops a dime to use them. Most commands WILL put a time limit on the calls, but being able to make a call home from time to time is a major moral booster so commanders allow them. Security measures and certain items the average soldier might start flapping his/her gums about means they need to be monitored.

OK so some schlep in DC gets to listen to me talk dirty to the Mrs... SO WHAT! Just so long as the fool doesn't get to excited and disconnect the line... Premature disconnect is a bummer.. LoL!!!

Non issue here... And is nothing new.

LoCatus.... USN-Retired...

Does any one else see the irony of a ROCKEFELLER saying this: "Any time there is an allegation regarding abuse of the privacy and civil liberties of Americans, it is a very serious matter".
I bet he laughed afterwards, or on the inside, wait do those people have emotions?

"...and no, I don't have a tin-foil hat."

But you really should. In fact we all should, and double layered at least!

With the current administration you are extremely correct.

Take a look at this one:
http://cryptome.org/ciau-bomb/ciau-bomb.htm

Very disturbing.

"america has too much money and not enough brains"

You are correct. Let me keep my tax money and worry about my own privacy and security.

One thing a lot of people don't understand (not saying you, SHRIKE!, believe this) is that the American government and the American people are two different things. Our government is not a, "government of the people, by the people, for the people". It is a government of the rich, by the rich, for the rich. The general population has no say in the matter of what the government does - either directly or indirectly.

...and no, I don't have a tin-foil hat.

america has too much money and not enough brains

And this is how Uncle Sam will repay you.