TheNextReport

David Letterman's decison to hang up his comedy shoes by retiring from The Late Show was a moving moment in the history of American television. Indeed, it reminds us how the tv talkshow format had become a piece of genuine Americana. The show's concept built around a wise-cracking comic performer/interviewer has its roots in the medium itself. As wild and original that Letterman was, one has to remember his lineage: Steve Allen, Johnny Carson, Jack Paar, Dave Garroway and the legendary Ernie Kovacs. Mr. Letterman's heart was broken when he was not awarded the coveted desk at the Tonight Show when Johnny Carson retired. It was not a question of money, nothing so mundane. It was a question of taking what he saw as his righttful place in the pantheon; it was a question of where he wanted to walk --In the footsteps of giants.

A federal appeals court has ruled that the government's program to keep track of the phone calls of millions of American citizens is illegal. The judgement targets the of mass collection of phone records that exiled NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed to the public two years ago. Now Congress will have to decide whether it wants to replace the practice or end it entirely.The 2nd court of appeals made their case clear. Writing for a panel of three judges, Circuit Judge Gerard Lynch stated that Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which addresses the FBI's ability to gather business records, could not be interpreted to have permitted the NSA to collect a "staggering" amount of phone records, contrary to claims by the Bush and Obama administrations. "Such expansive development of government repositories of formerly private records would be an unprecedented contraction of the privacy expectations of all Americans," Lynch wrote in a 97-page decision. "We