Political Forecast

Thus the headline from the article in the New York Times. Apparently, the Administration has given the NSA the power to conduct warrantless wiretaps on, among others, American citizens on American soil. According to the article, they still need a warrant for calls between two American points, but international calls–by anyone in America–can be monitored.

Indeed, publication of this article has apparently been delayed for a year, which is almost staggering to think about. It almost makes one wonder about the publication date in juxtaposition with the 2004 election–ironically, officials in the article at the NSA were afraid that, because of the potential illegality of the procedures, if John Kerry were elected President that there could be investigations. But, of course, I’m not as willing to grant the possibility of conspiracy as others, though the appearance to those more liberal with that type of theory could be manifest. The ability for the executive to do all in its (constitutional) power to defend against enemies ought to be exercised to the fullest extent, but there ought to be limits to powers against American citizens, and where there are, they certainly ought to be followed.

“Justice Department lawyers disclosed their thinking on the issue of warrantless wiretaps in national security cases in a little-noticed brief in an unrelated court case. In that 2002 brief, the government said that ‘the Constitution vests in the President inherent authority to conduct warrantless intelligence surveillance (electronic or otherwise) of foreign powers or their agents, and Congress cannot by statute extinguish that constitutional authority.’” If that doesn’t fall under “judicial activism,” I don’t know what does.