Congress caved in on wiretapping program

[struggle4progress]

August 7, 2007

~snip~ Congress shouldn't have given that free hand to a White House that has flouted legal restrictions on domestic spying, misled Congress about abuses, and claimed the un-American authority to surveil without checks by the courts or Congress. ~snip~

Congress was stampeded to act after the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court said warrants were required to monitor calls and e-mail routed through switching stations located in the United States, even if both parties were outside the country. That should have been an easy fix, but Congress went further. It allowed warrantless wiretaps if the target of surveillance is "reasonably believed" to be abroad.

Who's to say what's reasonable to believe? Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, the man under fire for politicizing federal law enforcement and misleading Congress.The fact that questions about his veracity and respect for the law were so pervasive that Congress insisted that Gonzales share authority to approve warrantless wiretaps with the director of national intelligence doesn't inspire confidence that anyone's privacy will be protected.

Some members of Congress no doubt voted in good faith. But the smell of craven politics is inescapable. It's likely some members made a cold calculation that it wasn't worth defending the Constitution when the public doesn't much care and the price for opposing the White House is being branded soft on terrorism. That's a high-decibel charge that could drown out news of achievements by the Democratic Congress. This wasn't Washington's finest hour.

http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vpfisa075322809aug07,0,5188813.story

[IndianaGreen]

1. The Democratic Congress is giving Neville Chamberlain a run for his money

In 1938, England gave Hitler a green light to gobble up part of Europe, all in order to keep the peace. Three years later, British armies were fighting for their lives on the beaches of Dunkirk.

Our Democratic Congress had taken an oath to defend and protect the Constitution. They chose to swear allegiance to the American Caesar instead.