Well, after all this, Al Queda will be a little more confident that those wiretaps won't exist, because they'll know the American public won't tolerate it. So starting from that, I guess you could make the connection that lives are at risk.
No, that's not really the problem.

The fact is, though, that that's not the fucking point. Will greater surveillance reduce the threat of violence from terrorists? Probably. Is it worth the trade? NO. That's what Americans have said since the very beginning... we don't want to live in a country where every move is monitored and scrutinized. Even if it means that we're more vulnerable to certain types of attack, we're willing to take that risk to live in a free society.

Bush isn't going to stop authorizing this. I don't think it's going to stop either.

I do think that we have a right to not have our every move monitored and scrutinized. That right should not be infringed, without some system in place to make sure there is a legitimate reason.

There is a Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Court. According to what's been published about FSIC, it always turns around it's result in less than 72 hours, and most of the time in minutes or hours. That's at least a good point for a check. If some agency comes forth, asking to request information on a reasonable number of people because they are expanding a link analysis on some known terrorist contact in the US, they should get it. Why couldn't the NSA get authorization to do what they needed to do legitimately? Where are the checks in the system? What the hell have they been doing in the legislature since the Patriot Act?

The words "legitimate secret court" really don't seem to go together well. Kind of scary actually. However, if that's what is necessary to approve warrants for domestic spying, I'll take it over nothing. A court and a review body? At least?

Review is important. If someone gets included in a terrorism investigation when it adds a bunch of people to some link analysis.. How long can they continue to be watched without having to get reauthorized? What information about them is kept? Who has access to it from that point afterwards?

I have a feeling this week will have the title "Civil Liberties for The Holiday" in the Year in Graphs.

RE: Bush says he signed NSA wiretap order