Opposition Positions

Today's position: the wheelbarrow, to make the carrying of Republican dirty water all the less challenging.

WASHINGTON, July 31 — Under pressure from President Bush, Democratic leaders in Congress are scrambling to pass legislation this week to expand the government’s electronic wiretapping powers.

Democratic leaders have expressed a new willingness to work with the White House to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to make it easier for the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on some purely foreign telephone calls and e-mail. Such a step now requires court approval.

It would be the first change in the law since the Bush administration’s program of wiretapping without warrants became public in December 2005.

Yes, because the executive branch has certainly not only proven the urgent need to circumvent to the notoriously lax and librul FISA courts, but that they, the Bush White House, are capable of wielding this power in a, um, responsible and non-partisan manner, like pretty much everything else they've touched.

“We hope our Republican counterparts will work together with us to fix the problem, rather than try again to gain partisan political advantage at the expense of our national security,” Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, said in a statement Monday night.

Maybe this is some rope-a-dope strategery Harry Reid has cooked up. Given the lack of focus on this particular issue though, perhaps some of us can be forgiven by the Serious Thinkers for having our doubts.

I think this bit is the real kicker:

The White House has told Democratic lawmakers that it will accept a narrow bill now but will come back later for broader changes, including legal immunity for telecommunications companies involved in the wiretapping program.

Basically how this will eventually shake out is that Fredo and his minions get to do infinite amounts of data mining and sifting on everyone, period, and a blanket retroactive no-backsies immunity for all the gubmint and telecom weasels who cooperate with this, right up to the very day someone somewhere grows a spine and says no to these people. Or, you know, not.

I'm sure this is all Ralph Nader's fault somehow.