G.O.P. Senators and Bush Reach Wiretap Accord

[quiet.american]

Alternative headline:
Bush broke the law. Bush gets away with it.

G.O.P. Senators and Bush Reach Wiretap Accord
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and SCOTT SHANE

WASHINGTON, March 7 — Moving to tamp down Democratic calls for an investigation of the administration's domestic eavesdropping program, Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee said Tuesday that they had reached agreement with the White House on proposed bills to impose new oversight but allow wiretapping without warrants for up to 45 days.

The agreement, hashed out in weeks of negotiations between Vice President Dick Cheney and Republicans critical of the program, dashes Democratic hopes of starting a full committee investigation because the proposal won the support of Senators Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Olympia J. Snowe of Maine. The two, both Republicans, had threatened to support a fuller inquiry if the White House did not disclose more about the program to Congress.

"We are reasserting Congressional responsibility and oversight," Ms. Snowe said.

The proposed legislation would create a seven-member "terrorist surveillance subcommittee" and require the administration to give it full access to the details of the program's operations.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/08/politics/08nsa.html?hp&ex=1141880400&en=7402b982a1503c71&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[fearnobush]

1. Republicans - killing democracy one amendment at a time.

If you hate the US Constitution then the GOP is the party for you. Go fascism!

[Up2Late]

2. Oh great! Another Committee. Remember, if they need to change the Law...

...to make what the WH did LEGAL, that DOES mean that what they DID do.....WAS ILLEGAL!!!!!!

"...The proposed legislation would create a seven-member "terrorist surveillance subcommittee" and require the administration to give it full access to the details of the program's operations...."

[xxqqqzme]

3. "...We are reasserting Congressional

responsibility and oversight," Ms. Snowe said..."

OK that's a train of thought I cannot follow because there is no logic. How is letting the neo-cons use you as a doormat 'reasserting' anything?

[rodeodance]

28. sickening!

[knight_of_the_star]

84. Simple

It reasserts that they are a bunch of two dollar whores, nothing more.

[Mountainman]

4. Why would the White House obey this new law? They don't respect the law!

That is no remedy! It is only a way out for repukes.

[gorgan]

5. 7 members

all sworn to secrecy to the point where they will never be allowed to report to anyone else about anything the administration tells them ever for the rest of their lives, so what's the point anyway.

[rodeodance]

19. Comittee has 8 Repugs and 7 Dems

[rodeodance]

20. Dem. Ron Wyden-"Congress s trying to legislate in the dark."

....But Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, compared the proposed bill to a doctor's diagnosis of an unexamined patient.

"Congress doesn't have that great a history in reforming programs it knows a lot about," Mr. Wyden said. "Here Congress is trying to legislate in the dark."

Senator Bill Frist, Republican of Tennessee, the majority leader, issued a statement supporting the proposal.

It is not clear whether all the Republican critics will back the deal. Senator Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has said Congress should seek a court ruling on the legitimacy of the program in addition to new oversight.

[Just Me]

39. So, can any member of congress submit this to a court,....

,...to ascertain whether or not domestic spying is unconstitutional? If so, :wtf:

How far are they going to allow this shit to go before they do anything of real substance to end such abuses?

I am just sick over the perpetual series of crimes and abuses and corruption by this leadership. :puke:

[LuckyLib]

68. Frist is a weasel -- no surprise there.

[deacon]

6. Would someone tell me just where are our Dem rep opposition voices?

Are they all on vacation? Where are they??? This is outrageous.........

[anitar1]

35. Filling their bags with Corporate money, perhaps ?

Almost anyone can be bought.

[Lasher]

38. Here's an opposition voice

Meanwhile, Democrats on the Intelligence Committee expressed outrage after a meeting Tuesday that senators voted _ along party lines _ to reject an investigation of the surveillance proposed by West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the committee's top Democrat.

"The committee _ to put it bluntly _ basically is in the control of the White House," a visibly angry Rockefeller said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/08/AR2006030800452.html

Done deal, whitewash completed. You shouldn't be surprised. Lopdog Roberts and Dubya did whatever it took to prevent an investigation because they know the law has been broken and impeachment would likely ensue.

People are fed up with this. Something I'm going to be preaching up to the November elections is: King George II is out of control and the Congressional pukes never do anything but go along with him. We need Democrats in Congress so that checks and balances will start working again.

If Democrats win a majority in the Senate I gurantee that Jay, who would then be Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, will launch an investigation. I hope he's on the Sunday talk shows, but I'll bet the corporate news media will quickly sweep this under a rug.

On edit: I send thee to the greatest page

[hang a left]

7. Oh for f*%#@s sake...

Republicans on the committee, however, emphasized the administration's resistance to the accord. Senator Pat Roberts, the Kansas Republican who is chairman of the Intelligence Committee and helped broker the deal, called it "the agreement we insisted upon."

Translation: the agreement Roberts and the WH insisted upon.

[LibDemAlways]

8. Proof positive that the repukes can do whatever

they damn well please. They have the numbers. It's gotten so bad they don't even pretend to care about being "bipartisan" or give a good goddamn what any Democrat thinks - and the media whores come up with misleading headlines to hide the truth.

The panel discussing impeachment on c-span the other day indicated that the only way we're ever going to get rid of the thugs in the WH is for the people to rise up and demand it. Even if it happened, if millions stormed Washington in mass protests, it wouldn't matter because the media wouldn't cover it or would find a way to spin it in the chimp's favor as "Hundreds Protest Bush; Millions Do Not" story on p. 25.

[Bake]

47. Pukes: "We don't need no steenking Constitution!"

Congress cannot by fiat make Bush's criminal actions constitutional. So what if they "broker a deal." It's STILL ILLEGAL, YOU PUKE MOTHERF*CKERS!

Bake

[radfringe]

9. the kool-aid shipment arrived

no wonder the repugs were upset - they haven't had their mandatory daily glass of kool-aid

and they also received new rubberstamps...

[Daphne08]

10. Where is my country? I just don't know what else to say. n/t

[salin]

11. What are they afraid of?

Why do they not assert their consititutional duty as a seperate branch of govt? Why would they "believe" a "trust us" on being given full access to information for oversight? What powers, if any, are they giving the "oversight" committee if/when it finds serious problems and violations of civil liberties?

[truthisfreedom]

12. ooh, it's called accord now? i used to think it was called CONSPIRACY.

lawless fucks.

[lcbart]

13. Where's the outrage?

Let's see W breaks the law - so the re-pug's change the law?

Yes, I know, this is what they were expected to do - but dammit what does it take? Where are our voices?

[rodeodance]

21. i am sick of this crapola--but feel helpless--even as I zap of emails.

[Frank Cannon]

14. Doesn't this constitute an "ex post facto" law, prohibited by...

Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution? Not that that document means shit anymore.

Maybe some legal scholars can help me with this.

[rodeodance]

25. Bush broke the law-Congress says Ok-then makes a new law. Simple

[Frank Cannon]

46. That's right, but an "ex post facto" law...

is one that changes the consequences of a law previously passed and subsequently broken by someone (which the Congress here is essentially admitting Bush did), in order to change the consequences FOR THAT LAW BREAKER. Neither the Federal nor the State governments can pass such a "do-over" law. It's prohibited by the Constitution.

The framers of our Constitution were enormously foresighted. They put the proscription against ex post facto laws in there for a good reason, and I'm suspecting that reason has something to do with this.

[FatDave]

53. I think you're right, Frank

I didn't know the latin legal term, but you obviously can't make a new law retoroactive to absolve you from pst crimes.

[Zodiak]

70. In civics class

you learn about ex post facto and habeas corpus on the same day, and how this country is nifty because our forfathers were smart and we wil never be a corrupt disctatorship with absolute power because of it.

Bush has broken both, and the machine wearily goes on. What gets me so worked up is the silence. The horrible, horrible, silence.

[Laelth]

72. No. Not as I understand it.

What you can't do, under ex-post-facto doctrine, is to pass a law making something illegal and then charge someone who acted before the law was passed with breaking that law. The idea is that the criminal law ought to give notice of what is and is not against the law. It would be unfair to imprison someone for committing an act that he or she could not have had any notice regarding the illegality of the act. In the ex-post-facto context that means you can't imprison someone for breaking a criminal law that didn't exist when they committed the act.

With Bush and the spying he had notice. The FISA law was passed in 1978. He, in our opinion, broke the law. He claims that his war-making powers under Article II gave him the right to break this law in the context of his powers as Commander in Chief while the country was at war. It's a dubious argument, at best, but it has not been settled by the Supreme Court, yet, and he might win on that argument.

But, any way you slice it, ex-post-facto doctrine is not implicated in this situation.

-Laelth

[deb98126]

74. Laelth

Are you an attorney? I'm trying to get the attention of either a human right's attorney or an investigative journalist. In 2004 I was illegally hosptialized and detained by the FBI. You can read my account on the indy news network:



Somebody, please help me!!

Deborah

[Laelth]

76. I'm in my 3rd year of law school.

I'll take the bar in July. I'll know whether I have passed in Nov. If I pass, I'll be an attorney.

I wish you luck hiring an attorney to sue the FBI. I wouldn't do it. But, seriously, if your case is good, some attorney, somewhere, will take your case. Best wishes!

-Laelth

[deb98126]

75. Laelth

Here's the URL for my article:

<http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/03/1806390.php>

Deborah

[Laelth]

77. And ...

Welcome to DU! :patriot:

-Laelth

[rodeodance]

15. in other words---GOP members 'saved' the WH once more.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/08/politics/08nsa.html?th=&emc=th&pagewanted=print
March 8, 2006
G.O.P. Senators Say Accord Is Set on Wiretapping
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
and SCOTT SHANE

WASHINGTON, March 7 — Moving to tamp down Democratic calls for an investigation of the administration's domestic eavesdropping program, Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee said Tuesday that they had reached agreement with the White House on proposed bills to impose new oversight but allow wiretapping without warrants for up to 45 days.

The agreement, hashed out in weeks of negotiations between Vice President Dick Cheney and Republicans critical of the program, dashes Democratic hopes of starting a full committee investigation because the proposal won the support of Senators Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Olympia J. Snowe of Maine. The two, both Republicans, had threatened to support a fuller inquiry if the White House did not disclose more about the program to Congress.

"We are reasserting Congressional responsibility and oversight," Ms. Snowe said.

The proposed legislation would create a seven-member "terrorist surveillance subcommittee" and require the administration to give it full access to the details of the program's operations.

[rodeodance]

16. upper fold, front page of NYT.

[rodeodance]

17. Hagel and Snowe did the deal

[rodeodance]

18. says Cheney, and Miers Hadley were the WH dealers

..Mr. Hagel said the group worked out the last-minute deal in long telephone calls with Mr. Cheney; the White House counsel, Harriet E. Miers; and Stephen J. Hadley, the assistant to the president for national security.

[rodeodance]

27. DeWine is a fool---Congress always had oversight-but they did NOT do

it--!!


...Senator Mike DeWine, the Ohio Republican who helped draft the proposal, said it would bring the program "into the normal oversight of the Senate intelligence committee."

[ladym55]

85. Yeah, thanks Mike

You are ALWAYS right there taking care of the Constitution and representing the best interests of your constituents ... NOT

:puke:

[LeftHander]

22. Complicit - The Oath they took and the one they are following...

The Senate:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.

The House:

I, Loyal Citizen of the Republic, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

They way the are acting it reads more like this:

Senate:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the President of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.

House:

I, Loyal Minion of the Executive, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the President of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

[ladym55]

86. That about sums it up ....

[depakid]

23. Mainers' "moderate" Republican(s)

When are the people of Main going to clue in?

There's no such thing as a moderate Republican.

[rodeodance]

29. they are ones who pretend to be against Bush--then cave.

[rodeodance]

24. "legislation that would further codify the president's authority," SCARY

....The House Intelligence Committee said last week that it would seek limited briefings for some panel members so that they could weigh changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, but the Republican leaders of the House committee stopped far short of proposing the kind of continuing oversight and rules changes that the Senate committee has settled on. A spokeswoman for the White House, Dana Perino, called the Republican senators' proposal "a generally sound approach."

"We're eager to work with Congress on legislation that would further codify the president's authority," Ms. Perino said. "We remain committed to our principle, that we will not do anything that undermines the program's capabilities or the president's authority."

Republicans on the committee, however, emphasized the administration's resistance to the accord. Senator Pat Roberts, the Kansas Republican who is chairman of the Intelligence Committee and helped broker the deal, called it "the agreement we insisted upon."

[rodeodance]

26. k and nominated.

[lcbart]

33. me too n/t

[rodeodance]

30. says no hope for investigation now! DAMM!

from IP:
.....The agreement, hashed out in weeks of negotiations between Vice President Dick Cheney and Republicans critical of the program, dashes Democratic hopes of starting a full committee investigation because the proposal won the support of Senators Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Olympia J. Snowe of Maine. The two, both Republicans, had threatened to support a fuller inquiry if the White House did not disclose more about the program to Congress.

[M155Y_A1CH]

31. Aiding and abetting the criminals

The GOP should be abolished due to extensive criminal activity.
No law can't be broken or amended by these folks.

[Toucano]

32. Don't worry! The next Congress can still take up a criminal investigation

Republicans are only buying time.

How many people would it take to surround the capital and demand an investigation? 10,000? 100,000?

[Ezlivin]

37. Even if 10 million people surrounded the Capital, they wouldn't buckle

Like a previous poster noted, the media would ignore the demonstration regardless of the size and would marginalize the movement by saying something like Millions of Americans Unconvinced by Demonstration or some such drivel.

[TankLV]

60. You mean a million person "focus group"

Got to get with the new terminology.

It's not torture - it's "rendition".

It's not domestic spying - it's "terrorist spying".

At least until a Democrat is again president, then they'll change their tune in a heart beat without a missing a beat, and the repuke whore media will dutifully report this NEW development without ever mentioning what they have just done now - just like their breathy spews that the "repukes GAVE Clinton the line item veto" without mentioning that at the time they passed the law - at the height of the repuke impeachment hard-on - they were CERTAIN Clinton and the Dems would NOT get another term..."

[anitar1]

34. Well Yes. did anyone expect anything else? n/t

[maxrandb]

36. Well, I guess if the Repukes and the pretzeldent

agree, then the Dems will have no problem with it.

[mopinko]

40. get under the carpet, you

along with the rest of the scandals? jesus.

[davekriss]

41. Unf*ckingbelievable, that's all I have to say

Regardless of what future law looks like, the Bush Regime still cravenly broke serious existing law that reduced the liberty and rights of privacy that We the People hold for ourselves. Bush's wiretapping represents an undemocratic overturn of law. Not only should Bush be impeached, he should be punished with fines and jail time, on this one matter alone.

Our President is not above the law and violated the law, so far without consequences. What kind of example does THIS set for our children?

How can Republicans sleep at night: They impeach a Democratic President for a small lie about an extramarital affair, yet give their thug free reign to trample the constition, break the laws of the land, lie us into war, torture when we say no torture -- I mean, Bush is MUCH WORSE than "worst President, ever".

May we as a nation survive these very dark times, but frankly it looks at best like a crap shoot right now.

[EVDebs]

42. Just more ammunition for the Nov '06 campaigns against Rs

They've just handed the election over to a Democratically controlled House. They just don't know it yet.

[FatDave]

54. Yes, assuming we make enough noise about this.

Anybody tipped off Olbermann?

[AbbyR]

43. I am so disgusted

Surely there is a way for us to stop this. Will the ACLU, perhaps, take action? Can there be some sort of class action suit? It's beginning to look as if we just have to take everything this corrupt administration dishes out, and I can't believe it.

Does anyone have any ideas? There must be a way. I hope.

[mom cat]

44. You could see this coming a mile away.

:puke:

[HuffleClaw]

45. "require the administration to give it full access...

... to the details of the program's operations." suuuuuuure, they'll happily grant 'full access'. not bloody likely, they've far too much to hide.

[TankLV]

63. Oh they'll grant access - to only the REPUKE members of any committee

that has been set up to "oversee" these criminals.

Dems need not even leave for work that day - they will be locked out anyway just like all the other times.

But maybe if the Dems try HARDER and hope for Winning the Elections - they can - umm - ahh - DO NOTHING again! Just like now! Because by then, even if we get a Dem congress, they wouldn't want to look - you know - "partisan" by actually launching any investigations - that will be seen as so - you know - "yesterday" and "unseemely".

I'm sure they'll bend over backwards to make sure the transition goes smoothly too - wouldn't want to cause problems by sweeping their offices for repuke bugs - that would not be "nice" either.

[Tyler Durden]

48. A REPUKE is a REPUKE is a REPUKE is a REPUKE.

Screw them all, INCLUDING Snowe.

Why don't we ALL break the law, then compromise so we can just keep on breaking the law? Think it will fly?

[Loose Nuke]

49. They reach accord w/ the 9/11 Conspirators

This just came out in the Moussaoui trial:

FBI Agent Admits Hints Of 9/11 At Moussaoui Trial

3/7/2006

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (AP) -- In cross-examination, a defense lawyer got
FBI agent Michael Anticev to admit that the FBI was aware years before
Nine-Eleven that al Qaida planned to slam planes into prominent
buildings.

http://www.wcsh6.com/home/article.asp?id=32453

Are you satisfied w/ the 9/11 Commission's investigation? If not tell your friends and family, the media and your reps

115 Ommissions and Distortions of the 9/11 Commission

http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20050523112738404

[The Stranger]

50. So they mutiny over the A-Rab ports deal, but give up every right that

the American people have under their Constitution?

[The Backlash Cometh]

51. Once the Democrats are in office, we'll reopen this and destroy

the Republican's credibility forever.

[TankLV]

64. Surrrrrrre they will.

I'll bet my life that they will be in the FOREFRONT to "move along" and "play nice".

This will be safely buried under the carpet forever now.

[quiet.american]

66. It's a shame, but I tend to agree with you.

I talk a lot about John Conyers, Jr. lately, because his courage really is the thread that keeps me hopeful of the party, but the waves of crimes that Bushco is getting away with is starting to make Conyer's quest for accountability more and more evocative of The Impossible Dream.

[Solly Mack]

52. "We are reasserting Congressional responsibility and oversight,"

lolololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololol

Bottle that statement and the world would never run out of fertilizer.

[LaCrosseDem]

55. So that's it, then.

Move along... next? Kobe do anything bad? Any rappers get arrested?

[redqueen]

56. Yep, this proves it... they have no shame, and no honor.

They are traitors, pure and simple.

[Beelzebud]

57. With this rubber stamp, who needs an Enabling Act?

Un-Fucking-Believeable.

Don't forget there are elections this year. If we can't get back a majority in the senate and congress this nation is on the road to ruin.

[LaCrosseDem]

59. there's already a "Nader" in place to help Santorum in PA

I'm beginning to think inept strategy is a part of our genetic makeup as Democrats.

[Ready4Change]

58. So, OK to violate our rights for 45 days, But No Further!

"Give me Liberty, or Give me Death. Well, Ok, Liberty interrupted by 45 days of tyranny every so often. But NOT 46 days!"

And, uh, what if they wanna, say, wiretap someone 44 days, take a weekend off, then start wiretapping again for another 44 days, etc...?

And, uh, what about all the wiretapping that's been done, illegally, since 9/11?

What about the reports of wiretapping, illegally, BEFORE 9/11?

By drips and dribbles, our liberties, our freedoms, our very Nation, is going right down the tubes. And these so called Republicans, these so called conservatives, these so called American Patriots, are NEGOTIATING away everything 200+ years of Americans have worked, fought and died for.

Treasonous cowards and fools.

[superconnected]

61. I used to think it was just a corrupt crime ring, but the truth is

it's a cult. A corrupt one.

This should read 'GOP jumps in bed with Bush and Cheney, investigators searching for mind numbing drugs.

Hey maybe the GOP is on Ambien and that explains why they don't care about American rights from an intruding government ----> their own platform. Perhaps they're just signing the legslation in their sleep.

I'm just not sure whether cheney or bush, is jim jones here.

[w4rma]

62. So there is officially no judicial oversight on executive branch wiretaps

as long as the wiretaps are 45 days or less. That is their "deal". Officially.

[NanceGreggs]

65. Bush once said, "We don't negotiate with terrorists".

Apparently the Senate does.

R.I.P., Democracy.

[cain_7777]

67. Republicon faux Investigation

Even if we did start an investigation of the administration's domestic eavesdropping program the Republicons would kick up a little dust and declare it legal after an extensive/thorough faux investigation. Wait till we regain control in November and all this shit comes to light.

[amb123]

69. Unlimited spying on the American People forever!

All this does is make legal what was illegal yesterday. Congress is now working hand-in-glove with "President" Bush in committing Treason. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights have been rendered moot and American Democracy is now dead.

LAND OF THE FREE AND HOME OF THE BRAVE MY ASS!!!

:cry:

[Rex]

71. Hagel drops drawers and says, 'line up'.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - if nothing gets changed in this country (at the very least voting must go back to paper ballots) by 2008, Chuck Hagel will be our new POTUS. Not because he will be loved, he has the 'capital' to make it happen. :(

[WestMichRad]

73. We're on the slippery slope...

...and it will be interesting to see what other Constitutional rights will be sacrificed to fight terra, or for whatever other excuse they manufacture.

But admittedly, I don't understand what this bill allows. Does it permit the misAdministration the privilege of investigating anyone, under the alleged guide of terrorism, for up to 45 days without requesting a warrant? Or does it have some restrictions on that open-ended premise that are more stringent than allowing some syncophants in Congress some "oversight"?

Isn't there an amendment in the Bill of Rights that requires a search warrant?

Oops, silly me, there I go again, thinking the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are still in effect.



Worst. Administration. Ever.

[vetairmandem]

78. Rage!!!

Of all the things that Bush has done, this one things makes me the maddest. It is so clear that chimpy is breaking the law, but the spin has kept most americans from seeing that. Congress makes me sick. The dems should have done something about this. (Stalled congress/ walked out/ anything to draw attention to it. Ahhh!!!!

[JWS]

79. Same old story,

Repug senators acting furious b/c of Bushco wrongdoing, & then when the story gets old they scratch the ol' boy's back.

[smartvoter]

80. Wow. Break the law, stare them down, win. Amazing. nt

[meowfire]

81. Patching small holes while the damn is about to collapse

Perhaps this law is a good strategy for republicans. I can see how it would kill public interest and anger regarding the issue. I mean what's the big deal about breaking the law in the past if it is legal now? Couldn't have been that big a deal could it? Of course it could also backfire horribly, but that would require people to actually be paying attention and care... and it wouldn't hurt if democrats would actually oppose this.

I can't see this changing much long run though. The bush administration can't seem to get through even a few days now without some new disaster at their doorstep.

[suegeo]

82. Republicans suck

Spy on that you cronic hallitosis freak fascists.

[monk24]

83. Excellent Wisconsin Public Radio pgm on this deal

Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) aired an excellent discussion on 03/08 with Christopher H. Pyle, professor of politics at Mount Holyoke College, and political activist, discussing the perpetuation of the NSA's domestic surveillance program.

A man with an extensive background in intelligence and no flaming liberal, he called continuation of this illegal snooping on American citizens the greatest constitutional crisis this country has faced. The program runs about 45 minutes in length, but is well worth a listen. Here's the link:

http://clipcast.wpr.org:8080/ramgen/wpr/bme/bme060308l.rm