"We see this argument over excessive security, and I'm with the critics on that."

Conservative columnist William Safire was on 'Meet The Press' yesterday and was asked for his opinion on the Bush spying scandal. He said that he agrees with the critics on this one and that the President's program is unnecessary and echoes concerns of "dictatorial power". He uses historical examples of FDR overreaching in his executive powers in wartime by hanging eight saboteurs and interning Japanese Americans to make his point that Presidents can go too far.

The most chilling part of his talk was a personal story of being wiretapped after a phone call from a reporter who was being spied on. He uses this an example that people "not really suspected of anything for any good reason" can and have been spied on.

Crooks and Liars has video and info: William Safire: "I'm with the critics"- over warrantless wiretapping

Safire:

"I was writing a speech on welfare reform, and the President looks at it and says, 'OK, I'll go with it, but this is not going to get covered. Leak it as far and wide as you can beforehand. Maybe we'll get something in the paper.' And so I go back to my office and I get a call from a reporter, and he wants to know about foreign affairs or something, and I said, 'Hey, you want a leak? I'll tell you what the President will say tomorrow about welfare reform.' And he took it down and wrote a little story about it. But the FBI was illegally tapping his phone at the time, and so they hear a White House speechwriter say, 'Hey, you want a leak?'. And so they tapped my phone, and for six months, every home phone call I got was tapped. I didn't like that..."

Something to keep in mind when the President promises us that it's only a "limited program" aimed at the "enemy".