Big Deal?

Is it a big deal? I know I’m chiming in here quite late into the debate about the New York Times article reporting on the administration’s tracking of bank transactions. Out of all the treason accusations that I’m seeing, I still wonder about something that Dan Froomkin alludes to in his daily blog. I think the biggest question is whether or not this is really considered NEW news. I thought it was common knowledge that almost every government in the world was tracing bank transactions of many targets, most notably terrorists. Let alone the fact that President Bush had previously said that the US would be tracking terrorist financial transactions.

So, I’m going to take a page out of Emily Messner’s book and ask questions to anyone who reads this blog. Do you believe that President Bush and others in the government had ALREADY disclosed the fact that they would be tracking financial transactions of terrorists? If you didn’t know, do you think that our government looking into banking transactions is really that much of a surprise? Do you think that terrorists (and/or terrorist organizations) really didn’t think they could be tracked, and that they were somehow in the clear? Do you think this article hurt America’s “War on Terror?”

I really would like to hear some opinions.