Spitting out the NSL gag order

Here's an interesting story from today's WaPo, "My National Security Letter Gag Order" (h/t commenter lockean to Glenn Greenwald's column today).

The unnamed writer (it's illegal for him to admit being what he is) is recipient of a National Security Letter and its attendant gag order. He owns a small Internet access company, and the FBI wanted certain information about a client.

Based on the context of the demand -- a context that the FBI still won't let me discuss publicly -- I suspected that the FBI was abusing its power and that the letter sought information to which the FBI was not entitled.

Rather than turn over the information, I contacted lawyers at the American Civil Liberties Union, and in April 2004 I filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the NSL power. I never released the information the FBI sought, and last November the FBI decided that it no longer needs the information anyway. But the FBI still hasn't abandoned the gag order that prevents me from disclosing my experience and concerns with the law or the national security letter that was served on my company.

After a description of the difficulties and immoralities of life under the gag, he comes to what was the most wrenching part for me. Being so gagged, the writer has now for years been unable to participate in his citizen's erstwhile right to participate in (what used to be) the democratic political process:

I found it particularly difficult to be silent about my concerns while Congress was debating the reauthorization of the Patriot Act in 2005 and early 2006. If I hadn't been under a gag order, I would have contacted members of Congress to discuss my experiences and to advocate changes in the law. The inspector general's report confirms that Congress lacked a complete picture of the problem during a critical time: Even though the NSL statute requires the director of the FBI to fully inform members of the House and Senate about all requests issued under the statute, the FBI significantly underrepresented the number of NSL requests in 2003, 2004 and 2005, according to the report.

[snip] At some point -- a point we passed long ago -- the secrecy itself becomes a threat to our democracy.

Who was it that said, "they hate our freedoms", and about whom? Why should we be surprised that they want to stock prosecutors' offices with "loyal Bushies"?