Bush Wants NSA Free To Spy On You

Bush is determined to roll back all privacy protections and all the law enforcement power that comes with it. That means virtually anything you produce electronically, could become the subject of an electronic file to build a criminal case against you. He already has authorized extra-legal measures one could argue would be appropriate in a short window of danger around a particular threat. But Bush clearly wants all information available on everyone as part of a government database for spying and law enforcement purposes. He also wants to make the Dems appear "weak" on terrorism by stimulating opposition.
WaPo

The president's appeal for congressional action to strengthen the legal underpinnings of the National Security Agency's surveillance program ran into roadblocks even as he spoke. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Spector (R-Pa.) suspended efforts to draft legislation until at least next week after Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) proposed new amendments and a bipartisan group of senators urged more hearings.


Challenges also emerged to new rules Bush outlined Wednesday for putting foreign terrorist suspects on trial. In congressional testimony, U.S. military lawyers criticized his proposed military commissions as lacking sufficient judicial protections for defendants.

Democrats are revealing their mid-term election strategies at the same time. It will be interesting to see how these proposals play to the polls.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats moved to match Bush in harnessing the emotional power of the anniversary commemoration to a policy argument. Introducing what they dubbed the Real Security Act of 2006, they called for a plan to accelerate redeployment of troops out of Iraq, overhaul procedures for bringing accused terrorists to trial and redistribute homeland security funds.


While the plan says Democrats want to "change the course in Iraq" by accelerating a phased redeployment, it does not offer specifics about troop levels or a timetable. Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) told a Capitol Hill news conference that Republicans had "failed to make America as safe as we can and should be" and "want to 'stay the course' in the face of failure" in Iraq.