NYT: Despite a Year of Ire and Angst, Little Has Changed on Bush Wiretaps

[DeepModem Mom]

Despite a Year of Ire and Angst, Little Has Changed on Wiretaps
By ERIC LICHTBLAU
Published: November 25, 2006

WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 — When President Bush went on national television one Saturday morning last December to acknowledge the existence of a secret wiretapping program outside the courts, the fallout was fierce and immediate.

Mr. Bush’s opponents accused him of breaking the law, with a few even calling for his impeachment. His backers demanded that he be given express legal authority to do what he had done. Law professors talked, civil rights groups sued and a federal judge in Detroit declared the wiretapping program unconstitutional.

But as Democrats prepare to take over on Capitol Hill, not much has really changed. For all the sound and fury in the last year, the National Security Agency’s wiretapping program continues uninterrupted, with no definitive action by either Congress or the courts on what, if anything, to do about it, and little chance of a breakthrough in the lame-duck Congress.

While the Democrats have vowed to press for more facts about the operation, they are of mixed minds about additional steps.

Some favor an aggressive strategy that would brand the program illegal and move to ban it even as the courts consider its legality. Others are more cautious, emphasizing the rule of law but not giving Republicans the chance to accuse them of depriving the government of important anti-terrorism tools....

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/25/washington/25nsa.html?hp&ex=1164517200&en=8d802ec0f55cdf6a&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[izzie]

1. I am not shocked. Bush is sure he is right.

Does any one really think he will be different these last 2 years? It will have to be Congress and you know how much power comes from the WH and the people they have put into every agency.

[bigtree]

2. what got me was the majority public yawn about it all

It could be that more hearings will expose the wiretaps illegal and pernicious side more and get American fired up about them. They still buy the line that it's about their security; Bush protecting them from al-Qaeda calling.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

3. The NY Times is doing us a service

keeping this in the news. Phone calls and letters to our Representatives need to flow to keep this Bushit front and center.

[DeepModem Mom]

4. Just noticed this was on frontpage of print edition. nt