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Congressional Probe of NSA Spying Is in Doubt
by Decius at 1:32 am EST, Feb 15, 2006 |
"The administration has obviously gotten the message that they need to be more forthcoming," Snowe said.
Consider this story a pre-pre-trial balloon. The public reaction will determine the outcome of events. Unless people are really freaking mad that they aren't going to have a hearing, whats going to happen is as follows: 1. There will be no hearing.
2. The ACLU will continue to be painted as a crazy group that hates America. (Which isn't so easy to do to a Republican controlled Congressional committee.)
3. The ACLU's lawsuit will be rendered moot by new legislation.
4. The new legislation will mostly strike FISA, enabling warrentless domestic surveillance for "national security" purposes. It will be renewed forever.
5. No questions about the legality of Bush's program will be brought to a serious forum.
6. Dems will raise the issue politically and get tarred as "pro-terrorist."
7. Big red wins in 2006 and 2008.
8. The NSA will be doing what the paranoids thought they were doing 10 years ago.
9. Everyone will use encryption when they move to VOIP.
10. There will be a renewed push for key escrow about 10 years from now. Oh, and yeah, hackers will be considered a "national security" issue. So will a number of unfavored political groups. |
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RE: Congressional Probe of NSA Spying Is in Doubt
by noteworthy at 6:10 am EST, Feb 15, 2006 |
Decius wrote:
...
8. The NSA will be doing what the paranoids thought they were doing 10 years ago.
9. Everyone will use encryption when they move to VOIP.
10. There will be a renewed push for key escrow about 10 years from now.
And Hamas will rise to power as the democratic representative of the cypherpunks. |
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Congressional Probe of NSA Spying Is in Doubt
by noteworthy at 7:49 am EST, Feb 15, 2006 |
The White House characterized last week's closed-door briefings as a significant concession and a sign of the administration's respect for Congress. Many Democrats dismissed the briefings as virtually useless.
I sense an impasse. Senate intelligence committee member Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) is drafting legislation that would "specifically authorize this program" by excluding it from the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Senators Snowe and Hagel also support the plan.
What, then, exactly, would be left for the FISA court to do? By all indications, DeWine's "exclusion" is effectively a repeal of FISA. Hagel said, "if the inquiry is just some kind of a punitive inquiry that really is not focused on finding a way out of this, then I'm not so sure that I would support that."
Because really, what's the big deal? |
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