Not only did he admit to spying on us, he got angry at the NY Times for letting us know about it. Well paint me red and call me a commie, but personally i think the NY Times should get a medal for trying to keep us free from illegal monitoring by big brother. What the hell is going on here. The “war on terror” doesn’t give you the right to read my emails, jebus. We are in big trouble if people don’t start taking to the streets in protest. I think every citizen of this country needs to vote for new leaders in 2006. If not we are in bad shape.

In his weekly address, he confirmed a report which appeared in the New York Times on Friday – and attacked it.

Because of the newspaper report, “our enemies have learned information they should not have”, he said.

Senator Arlen Specter, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee , said “there is no doubt that this is inappropriate”, adding that Senate hearings would be held early next year as “a very, very high priority”.

“This is Big Brother run amok,” was the reaction of Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy.

Senator Russell Feingold, another Democrat, called it a “shocking revelation” that “ought to send a chill down the spine of every senator and every American”.