I spied this article from Slate magazine regarding Congress passing changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Slate’s coverage is actually more of a conglomeration than anything, as they reference the New York Times and Washington Post’s collective reaction to the following:

“The New York Times and Washington Post lead with the House passing changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The changes were requested by the White House and though Democrats worried that the administration was overreaching, they were more afraid of appearing weak on national security.

The Senate approved the administration’s changes to the terrorist surveillance program on Friday night, putting pressure on the House to act. The White House claimed the changes were needed after a secret court ruled that foreign communications routed through the United States could not be tapped without a court order. But the administration asked for a whole lot more than a simple fix to that problem.

The changes will give the attorney general broad authority to approve surveillance of all communications involving foreign suspects. Only if his procedures are deemed “clearly erroneous” could the special FISA court step in. Some wary Democrats put forward a separate proposal giving more power to the court, but it was defeated on Friday. It was all about politics, says the NYT and WP, and the Democrats didn’t want to spend their summer vacation ‘fending off charges from Mr. Bush and Republicans that they left Americans exposed to terror threats.’ The good news for the Dems is that the changes will expire in six months, giving them half a year to grow a spine.”

This was a measure that needed to pass. The Left collectively, somehow, somewhere, must unchain itself from its PC shackles and realize that the a vast contingent of Violent Muslims have embraced an ideology that pledges the complete and utter destruction of the United States. Whereas Hamas and the Islamic Jihad have vowed to destroy Israel, al Qaeda has become this country’s version of Hamas.

I think the point is this: while the Left cries havoc over PERCEIVED civil liberty abuses on behalf of the government, I think most normal, LAW-ABIDING American citizens realize that eavesdropping on conversations between someone in say, Minneapolis, Minnesota and Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen very well may be a useful tool in deciphering jihadist chatter.

I also believe that when the American government starts listening to phone calls between law-abiding citizens, the populace will be in an uproar; and rightfully so…I think partially the problem is that these politically-motivated pundits put their incredibly selfish and deranged ideology above what is truly good for this country.

“If it had stalled, that would have left Democratic lawmakers, long anxious about appearing weak on national security issues, facing an August spent fending off charges from Republicans that they had left Americans exposed to threats.”

Point blank: the Democrats DO look weak on national security. When your ilk is committing near treason by siding with Militant Islam and attempting to sham immigration amnesty bill (i.e. OPEN borders), as well as basically denying that a war on terrorism exists, that’s really the only logical explanation that reasonable Americans can deduce.

“Despite the political risks, many Democrats argued they should stand firm against the initiative, saying it granted the administration far too much latitude to initiate surveillance without judicial review.
They said the White House was using the specter of terrorism to weaken Americans’ privacy rights and give more power to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, an official Democrats say has proved himself untrustworthy.”
But in a not-so subtle reminder that the Democrats serve at the behest of the Loony Left, where evil doesn’t exist and the war on terror is a bumper sticker slogan. Moreover, the Democrats will do and say anything in overt or veiled references to Bush’s presidency and capacity to lead.

When I heard the news that both the House and Senate passed this measure, I was pleasantly surprised. For all of their bluster that American civil liberties were being grossly violated, they did what was right for this country and passed this important measure.

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