The Washington Post, domestic surveillance, and the Robert's children

The Washington Post editorializes today on government eavesdropping to determine whether people in this country are in contact with terrorists overseas. The editorial concludes:

Congress must make the administration explain itself. In the aftermath of the revelations, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said hearings on the matter would be a high priority in the coming year. That's good. It should be unthinkable for Congress to acquiesce to such a fundamental change in the law of domestic surveillance, particularly without a substantive account of what the administration is doing and why.

But the Post says nothing about domestic surveillance of some of American citizens' most private records. For instance, the adoption records of the Robert's children.

Remember? The New York Times decided it needed to take a look at the children's sealed adoption records. Blogger Michelle Malkin covered the story here.

To my knowledge, the Post never expressed any concern about the Times' domestice surveillance.

It's not too late for the Post to say whether it believes a private, powerful, partisan organization such as the Times should be able to secretly gain access to the adoption and other private records of American citizens, including children. And if so, under what circumstances, and with oversight by whom?

It would also be helpful if the Post explained how the new national shield law it and other newspapers are demanding would have operated in the case of the Times' snoop at the Roberts children's records. Would the law have prevented the public from learning what the Times was up to? Does the Post favor the public knowing when news organizations do such snooping?

Does the Post see any need for Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter to hold hearings on what the Times did?