Domestic spying powers: show some spine, Congress

Posted on Sun, Mar. 12, 2006

<snip> The influential Senate intelligence committee had no business scrapping a full investigation into President Bush's warrantless domestic spying.

For more than four years, the NSA has sifted through millions of phone calls and e-mail, looking for signs that terrorism suspects were communicating with U.S. citizens. It then used that data to target unwarranted wiretaps of phone calls, some involving U.S. citizens. All of this was done without any court approval or oversight, or clear legal authority. Yet the Senate shrugs. <snip>

Instead of a bona-fide congressional inquiry, Senate leaders propose a paper-tiger response.
In return for secret briefings to a seven-member Senate subcommittee, Senate leaders propose a law that would all but write a blank check for spying on citizens. The FISA law may well need to be rewritten to take into account both the rise of terrorism, and the technological realities of a globally wired world. But without investigating fully the current NSA spying, how is Congress supposed to write a sound, savvy law?

The Senate proposal would permit the President to sidestep court-approved FISA warrants for 45 days or longer. To continue this warrantless snooping indefinitely, the administration merely would have to brief Congress on its reasons and send Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales (yes, the administration's alibi artist for torture) back every so often to update. <snip>

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/editorial/14075850.htm

What's the use? They're all being blackmailed by the NSA anyway.

Any reporter, any political opponent are fair game for this admin. since all their conversations, memos, etc. are bush's to counter. Remember J. Edgar?

Why is no one really concerned?