Some initial reactions by Boston-area bloggers to the recent news about the NSA snooping and the Senate's decision not to extend the Patriot Act:

Solomon thinks Bush did a good job getting his side of the story out in his radio address:

... My only question is when do the criminal investigations of all these leaks over serious national security matters begin?

Dan listens to that same address and comes to a different conclusion:

... This is pretty scary, folks. ... [T]he president has taken the position that for the New York Times to have revealed the existence of a possibly illegal spying operation run out of the White House was in and of itself illegal.

We are on new territory today.

Bryan agrees with an op-ed piece by Rudy Giuliani that defeating the Patriot Act only helps the terrorists.

Eliot: Welcome to the Surveillance State:

... This should surprise no one. Who at this point thinks Bush and his cronies have any concern with the rule of law? They feel justified in that the US is faced with a national emergency, a national threat of unprecedented proportion. ...and they are right; the threat and the emergency is their reign of terror. I am incensed, however, that the New York Times sat on the story for a year at the dysadministration's request and then redacted 'sensitive' information. ...

Liz: One can only hope that this is the beginning of the end of the Patriot Act.

The Bostonian Exile suspects the Times published the story right before the Senate vote on the act on purpose:

... The Times, as the keeper of all the resources that went into this reporting, had an obvious interest in being the first news outlet to break this NSA story, whatever it may be in the end. With one of the reporters on this piece set to publish a book in the coming months, the question of whether the Times would print it was never one of "if?" but rather one of "when?"

So, when would this article go to print? Of course, when it would make the biggest spash. Passage of the PATRIOT Act renewal in the House was a foregone conclusion, but much more uncertain in the Senate. ...

Andy praises Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold for his work in blocking the act's extension:

... I think Feingold is a leader and frankly, a hero. I think he is a guy to watch in 2008 because he is the perfect foil to Hillary's disgusting opportunism and run for the center.