And Bush calls this a compromise

Last month the Supreme Court ruled that the Executive Branch does not have unrestrained power when it comes to holding detainees.  Right now on a similar front, negotiations are under way between the Legislative and Executive branches regarding how to handle the issue of domestic wiretaps.  The New York Times reported this morning that the President is ruling out the idea that his branch must obtain a warrant each time they spy on someone inside the country.  And get this: he thinks this is a compromise!

But the bigger question is why President Bush is even negotiating with the Senate in the first place?  He wants to create a new law that will make warrantless domestic wiretaps legal.  But that is basically a concession that contradicts the White House's claim up to this point that they are not bound by the 1978 law that requires them to get a warrant from the FISA court.  Sounds like a little flip-flop to me!

So what is the Administration's excuse for not obeying the 1978 Foreign Surveillance Act?  The Assistant Attorney General tried to spin the argument:

"Congress did not anticipate the technological revolution that wouldbring us global high-speed fiber-optic networks, the Internet, e-mailand disposable cell phones," said Acting Assistant Attorney GeneralSteven Bradbury.

So because of technology the Administration should not have to obtain a warrant?  Let's get real.  The fact is that the FISA court almost always rubber stamps any effort by the Executive Branch to get that warrant.  So this notion that things would get tied up in the courts is ludicrous.

Nonetheless, the White House and most of the Republican majority are dead-set in support of Bush's new proposal that would effectively nix the Foreign Surveillance Act, and grant the Administration unrestrained power to spy inside this country.

Please write to your Senators and tell them not to support the Bush warrantless domestic wiretap proposal.  His political advantage is not more important than our laws.

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Other blogs writing about this issue: Rebelblog, Maikimo, The Lantern, Rebelle Nation, Keegan's Blog, This is not Over,  All Deaf, Scatablog, Chezlark, The Wild Ride, Mad as Hell, Hoffmania!.