However, debating the merits for or against based on a couple of blog posts isn’t really productive. Trial by media/blogs often doesn’t get to the real, un-biased truth.

That being said, we can really thank the Patriot Act for this level of invasiveness all all walks of life.

There are double standards for all politicians, regardless of which party they are in. When the shoe was on the other foot, The Bush Administration was quick enough to smack down gov’t climate scientists who supported the consensus on global warming and the human impact.

The media is like a dog and squirrel… limited attention span and easily distracted. Right now, the payroll tax cut vote is the current squirrel.
I would give credit to some bloggers who persistently chase the truth without bias, however. Some stories initially ignored by the media do come to light thanks to persistent bloggers, who in some cases are parallel to investigative journalists (albeit, most of their “dumpster diving” is electronic and deserve close scrutiny).

But I digress…