http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN2229053420080224

Well of course it does! The law expiring didn't stop anything in progress.

Meaning, the tapping never stopped and this is just an affirmation, phrased as a "we are gonna do it anyway" statement.

Really, the warrantless wiretapping has not stopped and was never gonna stop. That's part of why they threw such a hissy over this in the first place.

We've got a process that works just fine. All they really have to do is just state who they've tapped, why, and do it after the fact if they want to.

All comes down to breaking the law, as this was going on pre-911 everybody.

Hope Dodd is up for another few stands on this. (I sent the guy some money, BTW Deserves it for kicking ass.)

Edit: Now that I've thought it over a bit, the core issue is this administration just doing it without asking. That's it, the whole enchilada right there.

Let's say we need the big ass tap. Maybe that's warranted for whatever reasons. Ok then, the right thing to do is present that case to everybody, get Congress to draft up the right legislation and include the bare minimum accountability means and off we go!

As it is right now, we don't know who, when, why, where, we might know how.

That's not enough for accountability and that's a big problem. As big as just breaking the law is.

I'll bet doing this in a way that lets us know they are not abusing the information is completely possible. So, all the whining about it, given this all started pre 911 can only mean:

THEY ARE ABUSING THE INFORMATION!

This is not a terrorist threat issue. This is not an access to information issue. This is a power issue. The Unitary Executive does not like being told what he can or cannot do. He is working hard to set major precedent to skew constitutional power toward the executive: signing statements, war powers, unwarranted spying and searching. Bush has no regard for checks and balances, except for the president's ability to check any other branch (or anything in society or the world, for that matter.)

The current Republican leadership has made it clear what their goals are. America is the most powerful nation in the world - and what good is having such power if it is not used? This is basically what it comes down to.

Totally.

IMHO, the world is not happy about that either. We were in a far better position, where exerting power is concerned, when our checks and balances were running good.

At least other nations could see our position as being defensible. Now it's just a knee jerk kind of thing --or a unitary thing no different from a lot of other nations wanting to exert power.

That breaks things down far closer to a value judgment than would otherwise be the case and that hurts us generally.

Just goes to show Bush is blustering yet again over nothing. All this talk about how Democrats in Congress were leaving America open to attack was just more hot air.

Just think - in one year we might have a president who will finally fix this thing! (Hoping.)

Andrew

An editorial on this topic from the February 18th LA Times is a great primer on the history and current status of unconstitutional wiretapping. The writer, Andrew Napolitano, is a former New Jersey Superior Court judge who is now the senior judicial analyst at Fox News Channel. His latest book is "A Nation of Sheep."

I especially recommend this succinct piece to those who support Bush's "anti-terror" activities. Since Napolitano now works for Fox News there is a strong possibility he is not coming at this as a flaming liberal, but is simply advocating upholding the laws of this nation.

Nice read. Thanks!

Great meat in this discussion!

The APA revisions really did not change the playing field, it only made something legal that was not illegal before. So, when the administration claims we are in peril without it, it is a lie. What that lie is leading to is what we ought to worry about.

Exactly!

And this seems to be perfect for our media. It's actually fairly clear cut. Either we have a process or we don't.

Truth is, I think the GOP could have gotten anything it wanted, with little fuss, and little accountability --actually the minimum, if they had just asked like they are supposed to ask.

Sorry, but that's a major story and easy enough to present in bite-sized pieces. The fact that it isn't also is something to worry about.