Monday, January 30, 2006

Pay no attention to the man on the extension...

He's only listening to the parts of your conversation related to national security.

Bad Targeting
The larger lesson is that domestic intelligence operations by security-conscious government agencies, even when necessary and well-intentioned, can easily get out of hand and violate the fundamental rights of Americans. After the abuses of the 1960s and '70s, Congress passed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act precisely to ensure that there would be an independent monitor, in the form of a secret court, on the government's domestic surveillance. That is the law that President Bush bypassed in authorizing the NSA to monitor the communications of Americans. We believe that the president's decision violated the law and exceeded his powers as president.
This from the WaPo, endorsers of that famous enabler of presidential overreaching, Sam Alito.

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