I Spy

As Iraqis try out that whole democracy thang, we... currently travel somewhat murkier waters.

From the NY Times:
Bush Secretly Lifted Some Limits on Spying in U.S. After 9/11, Officials Say

Months after the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States to search for evidence of terrorist activity without the court-approved warrants ordinarily required for domestic spying, according to government officials...

...The White House asked The New York Times not to publish this article, arguing that it could jeopardize continuing investigations and alert would-be terrorists that they might be under scrutiny. After meeting with senior administration officials to hear their concerns, the newspaper delayed publication for a year to conduct additional reporting. Some information that administration officials argued could be useful to terrorists has been omitted...

I guess I shouldn't have made all those calls to the 'I <3 Osama' hotline.

For related news, Crooks and Liars has video of an MSNBC report on the recent news that the Pentagon has been spying on peace/anti-war groups around the country. Great report; well worth watching. I was watching MSNBC tonight as well (well during the commercials of the "Daily Show")- even Tucker Carlson was offended and disturbed by this news... and he's a douchebag!

Hope remains, though, for the Senate is taking a stand on the Patriot Act:
Feingold Now Has Numbers on His Side

[Sen. Russell Feingold] was a minority of one four years ago, when the Wisconsin Democrat cast the lone Senate vote against the USA Patriot Act in the traumatic weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks. The law, he said then, gave government too much power to investigate its citizens. Ninety-nine senators disagreed.

Now add more than two dozen senators to Feingold's side, including the leaders of his party and some of the chamber's most conservative Republicans, and the balance of power shifts.

A Republican senator (Larry Craig, R-Idaho) says it best: "Folks, when we're dealing with civil liberties, you don't compromise them."

[2002 mode] Senator, don't you know we have to the government all the power it wants... or the terrorists win. [/2002 mode]