Attorney General Gonzales resigns, finally

The [good] news of the day is that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has resigned. He is apparently to be replaced by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

Of course this is long overdue. It was predictable that Bush would not want to carry Gonzales into an election year: too much drain on the party. Gonzales is easily the worst AG this country has ever had. He makes John Mitchell, Nixon's AG (who did time), look like a slacker.

Chertoff is far more qualified than Gonzales ever was to be the AG. Magna laude from Harvard Law. Clerked for Justice Brennan at the Supreme Court. He has been a federal prosecutor, and a federal appeals court judge. He headed the Department of Justice Criminal Division early in the Bush administration. He is no liberal.....but he is eminently qualified.

Hopefully, this will mean something for restoring the rule of law to this country. We shall see. The confirmation hearings should be interesting.

FISA Court secretly strikes down King George spying program

Reuters Report: Court secretly struck down Bush spying

"A U.S. intelligence court earlier this year secretly struck down a key element of President George W. Bush's warrantless spying program, The Washington Post reported in its Friday edition.

The decision is one reason Congress is trying to give legal authorization to the spying program in fevered negotiations with the Bush administration this week, the Post reported.

The intelligence-court judge, who remains anonymous, concluded that the government had overstepped its authority by monitoring overseas communications that pass through the United States, the Post said, citing anonymous government and congressional sources.

The Bush administration expanded its surveillance efforts after the September 11, 2001, hijacking attacks, without court oversight. The court was allowed to review the program in January.

The surveillance court judge's ruling has prevented the National Security Agency from monitoring foreign telephone calls and e-mails that travel through the United States, the Post reported.

House Minority Leader John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, mentioned the court setback on Fox News on Tuesday, drawing a rebuke from House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emmanuel. A Boehner spokesman said he did not reveal classified information.

The Democratic-led Congress hopes to reach a deal with the White House in the next few days that would expand the government's power to eavesdrop on telephone calls and e-mail from abroad.

The effort would modernize the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which requires court approval to monitor communications with people inside the United States.

The White House wants to bypass the court when spying on overseas foreigners, whether they are communicating with a U.S. citizen or not. Democrats object."

All I can say is wow....this decision needs to be released PUBLICLY. How can changes to laws be even considered based upon reacting to a secret court decision? Secret court decision.....holy mother of God. We have gone through the looking glass.

A secret judge has struck down a secret spy program in a secret court decision. Will King George abide by the decision? We think....but shhhhhhh! It's a secret!

Do I need to say it again? Call your Senator. Call your congressman or congresswoman. Tell them not to approve any more secret spy programs, whether or not it is an improvement over Bush's existing lawless program. Make King George actually follow the law for a change.....instead of sweet-talking Congress into changing it whenever it is inconvenient for him.