Democrats need to educate.

[Ravy]

I happen to be travelling in CT at the moment, and I have seen a very effective republican ad about the wiretapping of US Citizens talking to Al Queda leaders. It claims that the administration doesn't have time to get a warrant when the call comes through. Very true. Also, very false.

We people on DU, and even those that generally use the Internet no doubt know that the law provides three days *after* the call for the NSA to inform the court that they made a wiretap. While the ad was true that they don't have time if they are in the middle of monitoring the call, it is false because it omits the three day provision.

I would wager in a country like the USA, where still upwards of forty percent of the people still think that Saddam Hussein was behind the WTC attack, that a great number don't know about this. Yet, I never hear news people or even the Democratic pundits explaining this when they have the chance to. They seem to get lost in the indignation of an American being tapped without a warrent, and then go downhill from there.

The issue is not about intercepting the call, it is that the administration has to keep a record and inform the courts *who* they have monitored. I am sure most Americans would be comfortable with letting them monitor the calls, and inform the courts later. Bush wants the court completely out of the picture. That is the issue. Say it again.... Bush does not want the courts to know who he is monitoring. Period. It could be Osama Bin Laden talking to the next hijacker, it could be Harry Reid talking to Ted Kennedy, it could be Justice Souter talking to Justice Ginsberg.

The point is that Bush wants to permanently hide from the courts the names of the people who he is evesdropping on.

It would be nice to hear the Democrats say that a few times between now and the election.

[JeffR]

1. K & R

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