No one expects the NSA

It's your liberty that's being taken
With the database NSA's makin'.
Drill down six degrees
And one easily sees
That al Qaida all called Kevin Bacon.

The Oracle says: Osama bin Laden has a Kevin Bacon number of 3.
Osama bin Laden was in Without Fear or Favor: The Best in Broadcast Journalism (2004) (TV) with Charles Gibson (II)
Charles Gibson (II) was in ABC 2000: The Millennium (1999) (TV) with Jay Leno
Jay Leno was in "Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The" (1992) {(2005-10-12)} with Kevin Bacon




CHATTER: DISPATCHES FROM THE SECRET WORLD
OF GLOBAL EAVESDROPPING
Interview with author, Patrick Radden Keefe

NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
By Leslie Cauley, USA TODAY, 5/11/06

Listening for the hidden message

By revealing this thwarted attack
I expect I can knock you off track
From how we surveilled
And all that entailed.
Maybe now you will cut me some slack.

Bush Says Cooperation Foiled 2002 Terrorist Scheme
By William Branigin, Washington Post, 2/9/06

Swiss miss

Dick Marty has advanced the suspicion
That the EU condoned inquisition.
It's the same tortured song
That we've heard far too long
And we still do not like the rendition.

Report accuses US of 'outsourcing' torture
By Philippe Naughton, Times Online, 1/24/06

Patriots Act! - call to action

I posted the following back in June but it, again, seems relevant.

It's time that each citizen be sure
How we act as to 'search' and to 'seizure:'
When rights are erased
By Congress, in haste,
We get to repent it at leisure!

"Married in haste, we may repent at leisure."
- William Congreve (1670-1729)
English dramatist
from The Old Bachelor, act v. sc. 1.

Contact your representatives and ask for an annulment!

If that's not enough to inspire you, check out Cowtown Pattie's more reasoned argument.

and if that's not enough to convince you, then how about this:

Bush Secretly Lifted Some Limits on Spying in U.S. After 9/11, Officials Say
By James Risen and Eric Lichtblau, The New York Times, 12/15/05

Critics of Patriot Act Gaining Momentum in Senate
By Richard B. Schmitt, Los Angeles Times, 12/16/05

Prime times indeed

In honor of his first appearance in the print media, an interview completely in limerick form, the Savant has decided to sponsor a "Complete the limerick" contest. Just finish the limerick below in the comments section of this post. I've offered some of my own examples to get you primed and don't forget to read the interview for some inspiration.

Credit will be given for keeping the meter, originality, and mostly for making me laugh. The sinner winner will receive an all expense paid (provided he/she pays all the expenses) trip to the disaster area of his/her choice or a limited edition copy of the Savant's chapbook, "Four-Year Funk," whichever disaster comes first. The chapbook is also available for purchase through December, along with some actually worthwhile articles, at the HeightsArt Gallery Holiday Store. Since Judge Alito may be otherwise occupied, the decison of the other judge(s) is final.


The Savant got to try something new
When they gave him a print interview.
Unlike Valerie Plame,
They're concealing his name;

a) But the photo might act as a clue.

b) Because Rove never heard of him, too.

c) Karl's response was, "The Limerick Who?"

d) Write your own, dear reader, and add it to the comments section

Prime times for rhymes
10 minutes with - The Limerick Savant
PDQ&A, by John Campanelli
The Plain Dealer, 11/6/05

Awaiting indictments

Oh, what a tangled web they wove,
Who practised tactics with Karl Rove.

[With apologies to Sir Walter Scott]

Rove, Libby Prepare for Possible Indictments
By Jim VandeHei and Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post, 10/28/05

Hear Yee, Hear Yee!

Though they voice a more tolerant tone,
Anti-Islam abuses have grown.
Wonder how that could be?
You must read Captain Yee
And you'll see how they act toward their own.

"I was sure that I was being imprisoned in large part because I had fought so hard to ensure the detainees at Guantánamo were given the things they needed to practice their religion, yet here I was being denied those things myself."
-James Yee, For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire, 2005

Chaplain cites anti-Islam zeal
By Carol Rosenberg, The Miami Herald, 10/7/05

Earning their "Honorable" title

The country can count on McCain
To act as the president's bane.
Who better to know
How to deal with a foe
By making the torture humane?

Senate Supports Interrogation Limits
90-9 Vote on the Treatment of Detainees
Is a Bipartisan Rebuff of the White House
By Charles Babington and Shailagh Murray
Washington Post, 10/6/05

Memorandum

From: Karl Rove
Subj: Justice "Cypher"
To: President Bush

When Justice O'Connor retires,
Who'll replace her? Why, Harriet Miers!
What's there to assail
With no paper trail
Of tenets to which she aspires?

Rove played an active role in selection of Miers
By Joseph Curl, The Washington Times, 10/6/05

We'll go no more a Rove-in'

Well, by Jove, it seems Rove's up a creek
With the White House refusing to speak.
We think it a pity
They haven't hired Liddy
And his bumblers "Plumbers" to handle the leak.

Rove Isn't the Real Outrage
By Richard Cohen, The Washington Post, 7/14/05

Is that a bulge in your suit or...

So, was Dubbaya poorly attired
Or did Rove have the president wired?
The bulge in his suit
Is an issue that's moot.
His performance should get someone fired!
(preferably, him)

Bush's bulge stirs media rumours
BBC, 10/9/04