Top Items:
Orin Kerr / The Volokh Conspiracy:
LEGAL ANALYSIS OF THE NSA DOMESTIC SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM: Was the secret NSA surveillance program legal? Was it constitutional? Did it violate federal statutory law? It turns out these are hard questions, but I wanted to try my best to answer them. My answer is pretty tentative …
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New York Times:
Administration Cites War Vote in Spying Case — WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 - President Bush and two of his most senior aides argued Monday that the highly classified program to spy on suspected members of terrorist groups in the United States grew out of the president's constitutional authority …
Washington Post:
Vital Presidential Power — A U.S. president has just received word that American counterterrorist operatives have captured a senior al Qaeda operative in Pakistan. Among his possessions are a couple of cell phones — phones that contain several American phone numbers.
George F. Will / Washington Post:
Why Didn't He Ask Congress? — The president's authorization of domestic surveillance by the National Security Agency contravened a statute's clear language. Assuming that urgent facts convinced him that he should proceed anyway and on his own, what argument convinced him that he lawfully could?
Daniel J. Solove / Concurring Opinions:Beyond His Power: Bush's Authorization of Warrantless NSA Surveillance
Discussion:
Balkinization, SwireBlog, Prometheus 6, Confederate Yankee, Instapundit.com, Stop the Bleating! and Emergent Chaos
Joshua Roberts / Newsweek:
Bush's Snoopgate — The president was so desperate to kill The New York Times' eavesdropping story, he summoned the paper's editor and publisher to the Oval Office. But it wasn't just out of concern about national security. — Bush says he had 'legal authority' to permit …
Discussion:
The Poor Man, Right Wing Nut House, The Peking Duck, The Mahablog, IntoxiNation-News …, The Strata-Sphere, Let Freedom Ring, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Prairie Weather, The Washington Monthly, Macsmind, firedoglake, Donklephant, Booman Tribune ~ Boo!, Daily Kos, Taegan Goddard's …, AMERICAblog, Hullabaloo, Running Scared and Mia Culpa
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Will / Attytood:
"All the news that's fit to print" — except when it's about us — The New York Times has been scooped (again) tonight — on a big national story with sweeping significance. But now, it's not on CIA black prisons (that was the Washington Post) or the Pentagon's paid propaganda in Iraq (broken by the L.A. Times).
James Rainey / Los Angeles Times:
Critics Question Timing of Surveillance Story — The New York Times, which knew about the secret wiretaps for more than a year, published because of a reporter's new book, sources say. — The New York Times first debated publishing a story about secret eavesdropping on Americans as early as last fall …
Discussion:
Roger Ailes
Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:
F.B.I. Watched Activist Groups, New Files Show — WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 - Counterterrorism agents at the Federal Bureau of Investigation have conducted numerous surveillance and intelligence-gathering operations that involved, at least indirectly, groups active in causes as diverse as the environment …
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Spencer S. Hsu / Washington Post:
FBI Papers Show Terror Inquiries Into PETA; Other Groups Tracked — FBI counterterrorism investigators are monitoring domestic U.S. advocacy groups engaged in antiwar, environmental, civil rights and other causes, the American Civil Liberties Union charged yesterday as it released new FBI records …
Washington Post:
President's Approval Rating Rebounds — President Bush's approval rating has surged in recent weeks, reversing what had been an extended period of decline, with Americans now expressing renewed optimism about the future of democracy in Iraq, the campaign against terrorism and the U.S. economy …
Discussion:
Mystery Pollster, Decision '08, Power Line, AMERICAN FUTURE, In the Bullpen, The Claremont Institute and The Next Hurrah
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CNN:
Iraq speeches, election don't help Bush — New poll: A majority doesn't approve of his handling of Iraq — CNN — President Bush's approval ratings do not appear to have changed significantly, despite a number of recent speeches he's given to shore up public support for the war in Iraq and its historic elections on Thursday.
Discussion:
Informed Comment
Kevin Drum / The Washington Monthly:
WHAT IS THE NSA UP TO?....So what's the nature of the secret NSA bugging program? Why did the Bush administration feel like they couldn't continue to seek warrants via the usual FISA procedures? Take a look at the following quotes and you can see a single thread that starts to emerge:
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Marty Lederman / Balkinization:Definition of "Audacity" — Noun: Bold or insolent heedlessness …
Discussion:
Concurring Opinions, The Washington Monthly, Stop the Bleating! and Booman Tribune ~ Boo!
Emily Francona / Intelligence Perspectives:
NSA: Domestic communications intercepts — Bush authorized spying multiple times — Senior intelligence officer says president personally gave NSA permission — While there are still details of this development we don't know yet and probably won't know because of the classified nature of the activity …
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Walid Phares / The Counterterrorism Blog:Catch them, but do not watch them!.. — "Use their systems …
rawstory.com:
Senator says she's asked for opinions on Bush impeachment — RAW STORY — Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has become the first in the Senate to raise consideration of impeachment of President George W. Bush for authorizing spying on Americans without warrants, RAW STORY has learned.
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Opinion Journal:
Our Friends the Pakistanis — Support for the U.S. is surging in some parts of the Muslim world. — So much for the popularly peddled view that anti-Americanism in the Muslim world is so pervasive and deep-rooted it might take generations to alter. A new poll from Pakistan …
Hindrocket / Power Line:
A REALLY OBVIOUS POINT — I haven't had time yet to study the legal arguments surrounding the NSA intercepts of international communications; Hugh Hewitt, for one, has addressed some of the technical issues. But there are a couple of fundamental points that, while obvious, haven't been made often enough.
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Greyhawk / Mudville Gazette:
"MIKE" — Via email: — Came across your blog this morning, and thought I'd share my thoughts as the dad of an American Soldier killed in action four months ago. My son was standing cover flank for two buddies checking out a suspicous location in the roadway while on patrol at 2:20 A.M. 16 Aug when an IED exploded.
Richard Ford / Times of London:
'Britishness test' for imams is abandoned — PLANS to force foreign-born imams to take a "Britishness test" were scrapped yesterday in the second climbdown in less than a week on proposals to tighten scrutiny of mosques. — The Home Office dropped the idea after opposition from Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs.
Discussion:
AMERICAN FUTURE
