As predicted the new NSA bill will grant retroactive amnesty in return for the president notifying congress about domestic spying if and when he kind of sort of feels like it. Kevin Drum explains:
So the bill loosens requirements for wiretaps, thus giving the president more authority than he already has, and in return requires nothing new in the way of judicial review. Those must have been some truly tortuous negotiations, all right.
See also Glenn Greenwald.
Congratulations Arlen Specter, you are now a verb.
***Update***
Some confusion exists about whether Specter’s bill still contains the retroactive amnesty provision. If Specter removed it I feel roughly the same relief that I would feel if Specter merely gave the president permission to beat kittens unconscious but not kill them.
MN Politics Guru
No, it should be “Congratulations America, you are now a dictatorship.”
No judicial review? Check. Congress granting amnesty for laws already broken? Check. Wny not go all the way and just pass an amendment that gets rid of the Judicial and Legislative branches of government? That will make things easier and cheaper.
Zifnab
They’re wearing that rubber stamp down to the nub.
Ancient Purple
Oh, thank goodness.
Now Darrell and MacBuckets won’t have to buy rubber sheets because making the NSA wiretapping without oversight is going to save them from the big old Boogey Man so they won’t wet the bed every time the terror alert goes to orange.
Perry Como
Now I’m confused. Why does the Specter bill retroactively legalize a perfectly legal act?
Steve
Cause, you know, some partisan U.S. attorney might institute a frivolous prosecution of someone in the executive branch. Which happens all the time, apparently.
Sine.Qua.Non
DAMN THEM TO A FIERY INFERNO. I am so sick of these asses.
Sheesh Perry.
Zifnab
It’s the criminalization of logic!
Zifnab
It’s the criminalization of politics! Look what they did to Ney and DeLay!
Sine.Qua.Non
ARGH!!!!!!!!! Damn these bastards to a fiery inferno. I am sick to death of these guys.
Perry Como
Bush agrees to have domestic eavesdropping program reviewed:
Umm… duh!
Slide
I caught that too and made me go hmmmmmm….. Does everyone remember in the confirmation hearings of John Bolton the secret intercepts the administration refused to reveal? Why would Bolton be given intercepts of US citizens overseas conversations? Was it political? Who were the intercepts off? To refresh your memories here is a snippet from Larry Johnson:
.
Perry Como
One was of Gov. Richardson (D – NM).
Eric
This comes from Yahoo News:
By DONNA CASSATA, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 54 minutes ago
WASHINGTON – Republicans are in jeopardy of losing their grip on Congress in November. With less than four months to the midterm elections, the latest Associated Press-Ipsos poll found that Americans by an almost 3-to-1 margin hold the GOP-controlled Congress in low regard and profess a desire to see Democrats wrest control after a dozen years of Republican rule.
Eric
This comes from Yahoo News:
By DONNA CASSATA, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 54 minutes ago
WASHINGTON – Republicans are in jeopardy of losing their grip on Congress in November. With less than four months to the midterm elections, the latest Associated Press-Ipsos poll found that Americans by an almost 3-to-1 margin hold the GOP-controlled Congress in low regard and profess a desire to see Democrats wrest control after a dozen years of Republican rule.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060714/ap_on_go_co/republicans_ap_poll
Richard 23
Yay, Senator Spectre! Down with oversight! Up with the urinary executive!
Richard 23
Oops, must’ve been thinking about the evil organization SPECTRE (SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion). Geez, I don’t know how I keep getting Senator “magic bullet” mixed up with evil.
And no, I’m not talking about Senator “asshat” Darrell!
Tulkinghorn
I remember Andrea Mitchell suggesting that because they were tapping Christiane Amanpour’s phone (to get her jihadist sources, natch) they had caught a few conversations between James Rubin and Bill Clinton.
I always assumed this was the sort of thing they were trying to cover up, and maybe that is what could turn Specter to the administration’s side on suppressing the investigation.
Whether it is true or not, it is fair game for the left to suggest it is the case, what with all the illegal confidentiality here. The right would not hesitate to trump such a conspiracy theory.
Why is Dean not proclaiming that the real target of the NSA wiretapping was Bill Clinton and other Dem insiders? Let the WH prove it was not so.
Tulkinghorn
>
Did everybody go the the beach today?
Sounds like a good idea…
Mr Furious
I remember that too.
And that.
This is fucking outrageous. These are clear indications of spying not on terrorists or terrorist connections, but real, live political rivals. Some of whom are in office.
And those are just the one’s we found out about.
Lee
Can this even make it thru both houses before the break?
I really really hope the democrats win one of the houses this november at least to give our government some balance.
jg
Darrell must be gathering talking points.
Pb
Pardon the Plame link, but this rant cracked me up!
Maybe it’s the tone, I don’t know, it reminds me a bit of Bob the Angry Flower…
Tom in Texas
Glenn’s second post today was much more fun. In it, he links to Marty Lederman’s analysis (which he administered after admitting to only taking 10 minutes to read the “difficult to follow, almost unreadable” bill).
Seems to me like whether or not Specter gives Bush ex post facto immunity for FISA crimes is irrelevant. With this bill, Specter has gutted FISA and, on top, allowed Bush to completely ignore it at Bush’s sole discretion. Sheesh.
Tom in Texas
Orin Kerr has also analyzed the bill and come to pretty much the same conclusion.
Sine.Qua.Non
Tim,
That is one hell of analogy.
Jeffery Faulk
Specter (noun) 2: something that haunts or perturbs the mind: PHANTASM (the specter of hunger)