Big brother says we don't need to know...

U.S. seeks to dismiss AT&T secrets suit | Reuters.com: "SAN FRANCISCO, April 29 - The U.S. government has asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit by a San Francisco civil liberties group against AT&T because it says the case could reveal military and state secrets."

The sickly secretive Bush govt. wants to invoke a rarely used vestige of English Common law, called the State Secrets Privilege. Apparently, national security is at risk. Which means what. Our physical security. Or Bush's ass. Or the GOP's ass in the Nov elections.

Also, notice the clever timing of this maneuver. Filed on a Friday, so it receives the least attention.

You see, the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) had filed the lawsuit, and it seemed they had the goods. They had a former ATT technician who installed some of these "snooping equiment" for ATT, fessing up that it all seemed illegal, and that it could easily have been used to spy on Americans. The case was set to be heard on May 17. Good time to squash it now.

Yes, bastards, indeed of the first water.

Update: More on what this means for the EFF lawsuit. Essentially, it has been killed.