The NSA Hearings

I thought the Democrats were doing a pretty good job batting around Alberto Gonzales today at the hearings. It's pretty clear he has something to hide. As others have pointed out, Gonzales has repeatedly referred to "the program we are discussing today," leaving open the possibility that there are other, as-yet-unrevealed programs still underway which go even further than what the White House will readily admit. What I think is more likely is that all of these civil liberties infringements and abuses of Presidential power were headquartered under one program, and then when the New York Times article came out, the executive strategy was to give the appearance of sunshine and open communication while at the same time hiding as much as humanly possible by relabeling elements of the program as separate. This is a crucial point that Democratic Senators need to jump into.

Gonzales buffeted this point by answering questions with the cop-out answer "I can only talk about what the President has revealed. There are plenty more rocks to dig under, and we cannot be afraid to do the digging.

UPDATE: Orin Kerr gives us this transcript:

SCHUMER: It's been reported by multiple news outlets that the former number two man in the Justice Department, the premier terrorism prosecutor, Jim Comey, expressed grave reservations about the NSA program and at least once refused to give it his blessing. Is that true?

GONZALES: Senator, here's the response that I feel that I can give with respect to recent speculation or stories about disagreements.

There has not been any serious disagreement -- and I think this is accurate -- there has not been any serious disagreement about the program that the president has confirmed. There have been disagreements about other matters regarding operations which I cannot get into.

I will also say...

SCHUMER: But there was some -- I'm sorry to cut you off -- but there was some dissent within the administration. And Jim Comey did express, at some point -- that's all I asked you -- some reservations.

GONZALES: The point I want to make is that, to my knowledge, none of the reservations dealt with the program that we're talking about today. They dealt with operational capabilities that we're not talking about today.
. . .

SCHUMER: It's also been reported that the head of the Office of Legal Counsel, Jack Goldsmith, respected lawyer and professor at Harvard Law School, expressed reservations about the program. Is that true?

GONZALES: Senator, rather than going individual by individual, let me just say that I think the differing views that have been the subject of some of these stories did not deal with the program that I'm here testifying about today.

SCHUMER: But you were telling us that none of these people expressed any reservations about the ultimate program, is that right?

GONZALES: Senator, I want to be very careful here, because, of course, I'm here only testifying about what the president has confirmed.

And with respect to what the president has confirmed, I do not believe that these DOJ officials that you're identifying had concerns about this program.

Then what the fuck are we talking about? This hearing is confirmation that there are plenty of other surveillance programs out there, the details of which are being held from the Congress, not to mention the American people. Meanwhile the Senate Republicans are all too willing to abdicate their own authority to legislate on this matter, rendering themselves impotent.

This may be a government, but it sure ain't democracy.