Quid Pro Quo

I'm trained to look for ulterior motives (I've been married twice), so it's not a far stretch to look at the Department of Justice's recent approval of the BellSouth and AT&T merger as based upon the Federal government's desire to continue listening in on citizen's telephone conversations.

This deal allows the Federal spying apparatus to cozy up to AT&T with a sweetheart deal (not like my marriages). As the Russians say, hand washes hand. Quid pro quo.

The media's tossing us a red herring by focusing on the anti-trust issues of the matter, framing the merger in terms of buyouts, markets, competition, service and all the other pretty buzz words that are used to describe U.S. policy towards monopolies. Many questions have arisen in the past months over AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth's collusion with the National Security Agency. This governmental head nod carries implications which may further entrench government intrusions into our privacy.