[antimedia] antimedia: Today's big news....

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Posted by antimedia:
Today's big news....
http://www.antimedia.us/posts/1155867885.shtml


   ....is [1]a court ruling that found the NSA's warrantless surveillance
   program unconstitutional. The administration immediately appealed, and
   the program will continue while the appeals process proceeds.
   What I find most appalling about this case is a statement by a
   representative of the ACLU.

     "At its core, today's ruling addresses the abuse of presidential
     power and reaffirms the system of checks and balances that's
     necessary to our democracy," ACLU executive director Anthony Romero
     told reporters after the ruling.
     He called the opinion "another nail in the coffin in the Bush
     administration's legal strategy in the war on terror."

   Does that seem like something we should be celebrating? It certainly
   doesn't to me. I doubt it will to most Americans either.
   Another noteworthy point is an admission by the plaintiffs.

     The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of
     journalists, scholars and lawyers who say the program has made it
     difficult for them to do their jobs. They believe many of their
     overseas contacts are likely targets of the program, which involves
     wiretapping conversations between people in the U.S. and those in
     other countries.

   Contrary to the claims of the nutty left, the plaintiffs aren't
   claiming that their domestic conversations are being illegally
   monitored. They're claiming, just as the administration claimed, that
   a surveillance program that monitors known terrorist contacts will
   capture their calls because they are talking to terrorists. They find
   that an intrusion of their rights.
   Do you? I don't.
   It's significant that the ACLU had to forum-shop to find an extreme
   left judge to be successful. Now that the appeals process is in place,
   they are unlikely to win in the upper courts. The greatest outcome
   would be a definitive decision by the Supreme Court that puts this
   matter to rest once and for all.

References

   1. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/081806dnnatwiretap.bd21227.html