Hmm
 

A strong Executive Branch? Separation of Powers? A Judiciary that is supposed to use actual law, not a desired results, as the means for rendering decisions?

I know you took it way back in 60's, but perhaps you need to dust off that ConLaw college textbook.

Maybe not so uh oh
 

No doubt. But far, far better to turn out a bunch of false positives to demonstrate the system is working than to let the real one through.

Hmm
 

I don't know, one could read this as a tacit admission:

• The Justice Department argued that the NSA program is well within Bush's authority as president, but that proving it would require revealing state secrets.

Hmm
 

Strong Executive Branch, yes. Executive that can disregard the other two branches, no.

Separation of powers? Good, you've spotted the issue; now go research the right answer.

Judiciary that's supposed to use actual law. Go refresh your recollection of the 1st and 4th Amendments, then look up FISA.

You just took the Califironia bar, didn't you? Did Arnold ban the use of any Con Law questions?

Hmm
 

You may want to read what some originalist have to say about this.

Hmm
 

War in Iraq? Or did we win that already? I haven't been on the boards for a couple of days and might have missed the announcement.

Hmm
 

I take it that fear of the Feds were listening was preventing you from calling your spiritual Mufti in Cairo?

Right. I didn't think so.

Hmm
 

No fear of the feds listening in on my calls to my Grandma is what's got me thinking that certain elements in the Republican Party ought to go take a refresher course on what makes America great.

Hmm
 

Where have you been? We won that one years ago. "Mission Accomplished", remember?

Now we're busy winning the peace. It's expensive and time-consuming, but Iraq's war revenues are paying for it. And our soldiers think the sweets are great!

Hmm
 

Does grandma live overseas? Is grandma a suspected terrorist or member of a suspect organization?

Hmm
 

I must have been thinking of another war. What's the one where we're fighting one or more insular, indigenous guerrilla groups who blend in with and receive support from the generally hostile civilian population? It's the one that's sort of dragging along with no clear or achievable objective in sight, mounting casualities and less and less support among the voting public. I remember something about a helicopter, a rooftop, hearts and minds, but it's all a bit of a blur.

Hmm
 

Are those the limits of the wiretapping program? Given the complete lack of oversight, do you have any factual basis for saying that it is? Given Bush's assertion that he can do anything he wants in the terror fight, could the program be expanded from that without question or control?

Hmm
 

The program wouldn't be very effective if it were targetted at only suspected terrorists.

Indeed, they could do that now, under ordinary criminal search provisions, and certainly under the FISA procedures.

Hmm
 

It depends on your definition of "suspected terrorist."

Some appear to believe that it means "Muslim, from a Muslim country, or descended from the above."


eta: How they figure this stuff out from a phone number is a mystery to me. kick-ass software, i suppose.

Hmm
 

Without a warrant, it's nobody's fucking business if she is.