Bucking Bush on Spying

David Broder -- Bucking Bush on Spying:

With two other Republicans, Chairman Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Mike DeWine of Ohio, and all the Democrats agreeing with Graham's view, the president has been given a clear signal to get off his high horse and come to Congress for statutory authority and court supervision of the surveillance program.

Yesterday, the White House offered further briefings but not legislation. If Bush won't do so, Congress needs to assert its responsibility by moving that legislation on its own.

Well, exactly. The Cheney Bush administration's stance has been clearly articulated in Cheney's own words (emphasis mine):

... we believe firmly that based on the Constitution, based on the authorization for the use of force Congress passed in the immediate aftermath of 9-11, that we have all the legal authority we need with respect to the NSA program.

The administration suffers from a serious case of "group think" combined with a pathological case of "go Cheney yourself". The administration is playing "chicken" with the Constitution, and congress-critters from both sides of the aisle have taken notice.

The current situation with the administration's super-duper top secret NSA eavesdropping program is the worst case of the fox guarding the henhouse since the Nixon administration. If any administration needed to have another branch of government looking over its shoulder, it is this one. Between the mendacity that spews forth from every member of the administration to the sheer incompetence they demonstrate daily, they shouldn't be trusted with handing out parking tickets, let alone spying on American citizens without a warrant.

It's about frickin' time that Congress stood up for itself against the war criminals in the executive branch.

This is bigger than just the Fourth Amendment. This is about preserving our democracy from a bunch of fascist bullies who have no clue how to deal with the threats we face.