Attorney general thinks we are idiots

Abu Gonzales has an answer for all of you who think you have some expectation of privacy when it comes to your phone records: shut up:

But Gonzales told reporters that, under the Smith v. Maryland ruling, "those kinds of records do not enjoy Fourth Amendment protection. There is no reasonable expectation of privacy in those kinds of records."

He seems to think we are idiots, because the FISA statutes were passed in direct response to Smith and include a provision specifically intended to address the nature of business records (50 U.S.C. § 1861):

Section 1861. Access to certain business records for foreign intelligence 
and international terrorism investigations

  (a) Application for order; conduct of investigation generally
    (1) The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation or a
  designee of the Director (whose rank shall be no lower than
  Assistant Special Agent in Charge) may make an application for an
  order requiring the production of any tangible things (including
  books, records, papers, documents, and other items) for an
  investigation to obtain foreign intelligence information not
  concerning a United States person or to protect against
    international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities,
  provided that such investigation of a United States person is not
  conducted solely upon the basis of activities protected by the
  first amendment to the Constitution.
    (2) An investigation conducted under this section shall -
      (A) be conducted under guidelines approved by the Attorney
    General under Executive Order 12333 (or a successor order); and
      (B) not be conducted of a United States person solely upon the
    basis of activities protected by the first amendment to the
    Constitution of the United States.
  (b) Recipient and contents of application
      Each application under this section -
        (1) shall be made to -
          (A) a judge of the court established by section 1803(a) of
        this title; or
          (B) a United States Magistrate Judge under chapter 43 of
        title 28, who is publicly designated by the Chief Justice of
        the United States to have the power to hear applications and
        grant orders for the production of tangible things under this
        section on behalf of a judge of that court; and

My reading of Sec. 1861 seems to include a judge, but hey, I'm not the attorney general, so I don't get to interpret the rules how I please, nor do I get to break them whenever it seems expedient.

Update: ThinkProgress adds not only a violation of FISA, but also the SCA.