Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) has announced that his Judiciary Committee will convene a hearing next Friday on Senator Feingold's (D-WI) motion to censure President Bush for his domestic spying program. With all the talk of meaningful debate here at Voice of Arizona, will the hearing draw a VoA contingent to C-Span to see the pros go at it?

Arlen has also finished first in the race among Republican Senators to put lipstick on the elephant and rein in the Bush Administration with its cowboy tactics in illegally wiretapping Americans. Various Republicans have floated proposed legislation that would make the president's actions legal but Specter's Judiciary Committee has won approval from the Senate Parliamentarian to proceed on two bills. The hearings will begin on Tuesday, March 28, and Specter expects to report the bills out of committee by May.

Senator Roberts (R-KS), Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, was… er, should we be judicious (no pun intended) and say, "disgusted" with the Parliamentarian's decision. Roberts carried the water for the White House by seeing that Senator Rockefeller's (D-WV) call for a formal investigation was defeated while dispatching Senator DeWine (R-OH) to draft his legislation legalizing the NSA program and ignoring the question of past illegalities. Perhaps Roberts' reward will be in Heaven. Can Cheney see to that?

One of the bills, written by Specter, himself, would require the FISA Court to provide a broad constitutional review of the surveillance activities every 45 days and evaluate whether the government has followed previous authorizations that are issued.

The rival approach - drafted by DeWine and three other Republicans - would allow the government to conduct warrantless surveillance for up to 45 days before seeking any court or congressional approval. Under that approach, Specter said the administration can still "roam and roam and roam, and not find anything, and keep roaming… I think that's wrong."

Specter even rubbed it in. After co-opting Roberts over a bill introduced by an Intelligence Committee-member, he said, "The [House and Senate] Intelligence Committees ought to exercise their statutory authority on oversight, but they aren't,"

Specter continued, "The Judiciary Committee has acted. We brought in the attorney general. We had a second hearing with a series of experts, and we are deeply involved in it." He added that his words should not be seen as critical of Roberts, but rather of the Administration. Hah! Same difference, hunh?

Roberts still plans to hold more sessions on the NSA domestic spy program and he will likely demand that Specter refer any legislation passed by Judiciary Committee be forwarded to the Intelligence Committee for review.

"I think my position will prevail," Specter said, noting that he will have Democratic support. "They [the Administration] want to do just as they please, for as long as they can get away with it. I think what is going on now without congressional intervention or judicial intervention is just plain wrong."

Do you think Arlen can get it just plain right?