Dick Cheney blasted President Obama today over the NSA's secret surveillance program targeting all Verizon Wireless users.
In an interview with Fox News, the former vice president and longtime Verizon customer expressed sheer outrage that his calls are being monitored.
"I don't know who these people think they are," Cheney told Fox and Friends' host Steve Doocy. "The absolute nerve to go snooping around everybody's private phone conversations. It's unbelievable.
"Since when did having a cellular telephone become probable cause to spy on someone? And what other data do they have? Our GPS locations? Which internet sites we go to?
"Like most Americans, I've got a lot of things on my phone that I consider private - not the least of which is my browsing history. This an an outrage, an absolute outrage."
The Dark Side
While serving as vice president from 2001 to 2009, Dick Cheney was a tireless advocate of increased government surveillance. He was especially adamant in defending the NSA's warrantless wiretapping program.
He has also had a long history, however, of changing his political positions when the consequences personally affect him, most notably reversing his opposition to gay marriage when his daughter came out as gay.
It appears that today's news that the Obama Administration had been secretly monitoring his and every other Verizon customer's activities hit too close to home.
"I've been with Verizon for fifteen years," he exclaimed, "and this is how they treat their loyal customers? Just hand over our data to the U.S. government, no questions asked?
"The idea of some pimply-faced NSA analyst finding out about my love for Jezebel, TMZ and those little knitting stores on Etsy just makes me sick. I thought this was still America. I thought I still had rights.
"Its almost like this Obama character thinks the rule of law doesn't apply to him. He thinks he can use the fear of terrorism to justify any sort of government intrusion he wants. It's terrifying."
A spokesperson for Cheney says he is considering legal action against the Obama administration.
