They just don't get it, do they?

It just goes to show you, that arrogance can lead to blindness, and a total disregard for the constitution. Former NSA Director, and current Deputy Director of Intelligence, in response to the uproar over surveillance and wiretapping without a court order was quoted in the Washington Post today -
"Hayden said getting retroactive court approval is inefficient because it "involves marshaling arguments" and "looping paperwork around."
Oh, so a judicial review of abrogating the 4th amendment rights of citizens is "looping paperwork around" . This is why there is a judicial branch of government, General Hayden - to keep a runaway executive branch in check. The law currently allows a 72 hour window of unapporved surveillance, as long as there is a retroactive approval of the wiretap by the secret court set up for this purpose. According to the Post Article today
" Since the law was passed in 1978 after intelligence scandals, the court has rejected just five of 18,748 requests for wiretaps and search warrants, according to the government."
This is a vey strong argument for enforcing this law as it is on the books. The Bushies claim that Executive Privilege allows them to circumvent this issue is a blatant abuse of power. Kudos to Republican Senator Arlen Specter for his reaction to this also in the Post.
"Voicing "grave doubts" over the legality of the National Security Agency program, Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said he will conduct hearings next month on the issue."
Go get 'em Arlen.
Also a quick tip of the hat to District Judge John E. Jones III, another Republican from the great state of Pennsylvania with common sense, for ruling against the teaching of intelligent design in Penssylvania public schools!

By the way - this one voice from the left agreeing with Ed about the TWU strike. You know what Mr. Touissant - I have to contribute a fair amount to my health coverage, and no one is offering me a job that I can retire from at age 55 at half pay - those are gains of the past. The average TA worker gets paid more than the average NY'er by about 20%, not counting the ungodly benefits they get- It's time for a reality check - maintaining the status quo will bankrupt the MTA and we can then return to the gory days of the MTA in the late 70's when trains were filthy, graffitti laden, and never on time.