U.S. secretly tracked billions of calls for decades

I always wondered about the DEA and what they were doing for surveillance.  It always appeared to me that DEA considered themselves "above the law" in that they seemed to think it was OK to search people's phones and computers without a warrant, and generally searched people and cars without probable cause.  This article in USA Today  by Brad Heath confirms my suspicions
U.S. secretly tracked billions of calls for decades  I think it is an excellent piece of investigative journalism.

One very obvious situation is the confusing mess of cross-jurisdiction and overlapping collections of databases and software--all with what appears to be random forms of oversight.  Why wouldn't it all be in one database?  Why wouldn't all agencies share in the databases and share software  applications?  What a true waste of taxpayer dollars!!  I would prefer that all data be collected and maintained by ONLY one agency which could be used by CIA, FBI, DEA, DIA, State police forces, as well as prosecutors and defense councils -- all if requested through proper judicial channels, of course.

What worries me is the way the DEA browbeat the telephone carriers to do their bidding and provide them information without any legal grounds.  Even though what they were doing was illegal, and the DEA authorities knew it, probably nobody be sanctioned or arrested for doing it.

I can sympathize with the DEA "soldiers" who believe they are serving their country.  They are to be congratulated for making the best with the resources and information they are able to obtain to do the job that they are assigned.  The problem is that they are soldiers in an un-winnable war -- The "Drug War" --that is being fought only because our right wingers--push the Government to continue the war.  The "Drug War" brings in tremendous revenue to many businesses who are directly involved in selling equipment and services to fight the drug war.  The right wing also likes the idea of taking away rights and privileges of "common citizens" to help them build power.  They like the idea of being able to monitor everyone's finances, travels, and communications, and feel they can justify it as part of the "war on terror" or "drug war."   It still amazes me that right-wingers and Republicans think it must be a crime for an adult to smoke a joint in their own house, but it is totally OK for people to own dozens of guns, including automatic assault rifles and thousands of rounds of armor-piercing ammunition.