Black Box Report

Congress is working on an extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. That law allows for domestic counter-terrorism surveillance-- in some cases with no court warrant. Critics say that violates civil liberties. But this week, President Bush warned Democrats they must strengthen the law-- not weaken it.

Much of this story makes no sense to me. I get why FISA needs to be changed. In the past thirty years a lot has changed with technology and our mode of processing and disseminating it. But here is where this gets sticky. Our president and his administration have made it clear they believe they report to no one - not the courts, not congress, not even the Constitution. Moreover, the only thing that’s matched their arrogance has been their ineptness. They have no clue what they're doing, hurt many good, innocent people in the process, and have left nobody on Capitol Hill confident in their abilities or their respect for the rule of law.

So with that as a backdrop, Democrats still agreed to give the president what he wants with more spying power and few additional checks and balances. Amazingly, that’s not good enough for W. The president - remember his approval rating hovers somewhere near freezing - demands complete immunity for the phone companies who gave up personal information of their unsuspecting customers all without a warrant or the knowledge of any judge or lawmaker. Bush says nothing wrong happened but he won't let congress check and he wants complete immunity for the telcos.

What's wrong with this picture? Why, of all people, does Bush deserve the benefit of the doubt. And where is a hint of a backbone from Democrats? Are they so petrified of looking soft on terror they can't say the emperor has no clothes?

I've had it with an administration that believes transparency only happens when they’re caught breaking the law, and I’ve had it with lawmakers who have the public and justice on their side but not the will to use it.