Have we actually learned anything new about the NSA program after today's hearings? I don't think so. We knew that some members of Congress don't know how to ask pointed questions and that belief hasn't been disabused.
We knew that the Executive Branch and the Attorney General were going to frame this issue as a matter of national security and that they are acting within the explicit and implied powers set forth in the US Constitution, the AUMF, and therefore acting completely within the powers of the Executive. We weren't disappointed there.
And on the other side, the ACLU is already declaring the Administration guilty.
What isn't nearly as clear is that this is a battle over who gets to set the limits on war. Congress or the Executive.
The battle lines have been drawn and I have no doubt that no one is going to change their minds over this program. I was have an ongoing discussion with Anonymous Emailer today, and this is essentially what happened. We got to the point where neither of us was going to budge from our respective positions. While we both agree that intercepting these communications is vital, he thought that the actions were illegal, whereas I thought that the Administration was on solid legal ground.
Others blogging the story: Glenn Greenwald, Memeorandum, Powerline, Mark Tapscott, Stop the ACLU, AJ Strata (with several posts - so keep scrolling), MacsMind, and Volokh Conspiracy.
No comments:
Post a Comment