Hmm, not sure that it gets us anywhere. The Republicans seem to be even more keen on wiretap and anti-privacy legislation than the Democrats. Its called "being tough on crime". After the airplane seat incident I don't see Newt in the running for President so it probably misses the mark. He might slip in a rider on a bill but if you look at who gets that sort of treatment it correlates very well with donations, silicon valley seems to be backing Clinton walet wise. I would not expect Bob Dole to be resisting pressure from the NSA on this one more forcefully than Clinton (which let us be clear ain't very forcefully at all). I thought the quality of writing rather poor, the points are made in polemic, partisan terms which can be made in non-partisan terms. If I were Newt this letter would say to me "we will vote for you anyway", so why should Newt bother to pander? The ad hoc ginger groups listed are a bit odd, the authors are associated with much better known (if fruitcake) groups. Phill