Are We Still Talking About That?

The NSA wiretapping "scandal" is such a non-starter. There have been so many rulings on the subject there should be little question as to the legality or the necessity of the program. It appeared there for awhile that the Dem's had come to their senses on the issue.

Russ Feingold has since tickled "the base" though, and they have decided to pursue it further. It still makes no sense. The best they could ever possbily hope for is a court to say the issue is "murky." There is absolutely no way any court will call the program "illegal."

Not to mention, public opinion on the wiretapping program is consistently high. There is no passion amongst the electorate for an impeachment proceeding over a program that most think the U.S. should be conducting.

Nevertheless, it was reported today that Feingold is inviting John Dean, who compares the NSA program to Watergate (huh?), to a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

Power Line, which has owned this issue from day one, notes an interesting irony that does link the two examples of wiretapping.


...when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Nixon's surveillance in internal security cases was illegal in United States v. United States District Court, 407 U.S. 297 (1972), it specifically distinguished between the case before it and surviellance involving foreign intelligence. The Court said that its holding did not apply to surveillance for purposes of foreign intelligence gathering, as is involved in the NSA program:

[T]he instant case requires no judgment on the scope of the President's surveillance power with respect to the activities of foreign powers, within or without this country.

The above ruling is just as clear as all the others. Thanks to Dean for inspiring its examination.

Power Line has also been following the absolutely outrageous reporting being done on the hearings by Eric Lichtblau at the NYT. Credibility at zero.

Enjoy.