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In spite of questioning the legality of the President's warrantless domestic spying on Americans, there's near universal public agreement that spying on suspected terrorists should be conducted. However, little attention has been devoted to the nature of the domestic spying program Americans want. 
Vice President Cheney spun that question into a political issue last week in his address to the Conservative Political Action Conference:
"I recognize that some have claimed the fight in Iraq is somehow a distraction from the war on terror. But that leaves me to wonder: Which part of the war on terror do they consider worth fighting? Even on the home front, where the attacks actually occurred, we're seeing attempts to undermine vital protections put in place after 9/11 to track our enemies and disrupt their plans…
"The terrorist surveillance program was highly classified, and information about it was improperly given to the news media. As the Attorney General pointed out this week, it's easy to imagine America's enemies "shaking their heads in amazement" that anyone would disclose this information, thereby giving notice to those enemies, damaging national security, and putting our citizens at risk.
"But that is what happened, so a debate is now underway. At the very least, this debate has clarified where all of us stand on the issue. And with an important election coming up, people need to know just how we view the most critical questions of national security, and how we propose to defend the nation that all of us, Republicans and Democrats, love and are privileged to serve.
"As always, the President has made his thinking absolutely clear to the citizens of this land: If there are people inside our country talking with al Qaeda, we want to know about it, because we will not sit back and wait to be hit again…"
Well, I'm not sure I agree with Cheney's shorthand suggestion that we continue "spying as usual". I'd prefer to see a pollster pose this question to the public tomorrow:
What sort of anti-terrorist domestic spying program would you prefer, A or B?
A. One without any judicial or congressional checks and balances that appears to be listening in on thousands of innocent Americans.
B. One approved by Congress, where federal judges have to give their approval.
I've reread all your articles on the NSA domestic spy caper, starting with Eavesdropping in Amerika, and I'm struck by the Bush Administration's consistent attempts to sell their clandestine undermining of the Constitution and the FISA as a simple choice of security vs freedom.
I even checked out Cheney's speech before CPAC and it's a full-court press marketing of them against us, less security vs more security. Like Gonzales, Cheney dispenses with the hard issues by contending, "It's legal and constitutional".
So far as I'm concerned, the quotes in your Amerika article are prima facie evidence of Bush's premeditation and an admission of guilt. So much for the legal question. That one spins off into the arena of High Crimes and Misdemeanors.
Now, do we want "spying as usual" to continue or do we want accountability?
Thanks for reminding us of this unfinished business, it's a most important loose end!
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