To Tap Or Not To Tap

Some conflicting stories out today on the warrantless wiretapping issue. The Washington Post says that the Specter bill is closer to passage thanks to another one of them "bipartisan" deals between Republicans and other Republicans. The way I read it, this one at least achieved a couple notable concessions:

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill this month that would allow, but not require, the administration to submit its warrantless wiretapping program to a secret national security court for constitutional review. But three Republicans who last year helped delay the renewal of the USA Patriot Act -- Sens. Larry E. Craig (Idaho), John E. Sununu (N.H.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) -- combined forces again to express strong misgivings about the bill's implications for civil liberties.

The senators announced yesterday that those concerns had been met by three changes to the bill, although critics said the changes would not have the impact that the lawmakers claimed.

The first change removes explicit language referring to the president's inherent "constitutional authority" to pursue national security programs. According to the lawmakers, a second major change would clarify that a decision by the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court upholding the warrantless surveillance program's legality would not give blanket authorization for the president to pursue wiretaps without court approval.

The lawmakers say a third change is aimed at ensuring that warrantless surveillance of an agent of a foreign power does not include an American. Under the change, the lawmakers said, the administration would be expected to obtain a warrant if the attorney general cannot certify a "reasonable expectation" that the warrantless surveillance will not involve a U.S. citizen.

The "constitutional authority" nonsense has no place in any piece of legislation, as it's gibberish that makes sense to nobody except willing imperialists like John Yoo. Eliminating precedent is fine, but precedent has a way of expanding on its own, so I don't think that's a big change. Exempting Americans from warrantless surveillance is OK, but if that's the case why not exempt everybody? Can an American hurt America less than a foreigner? No. It shows me how unserious this legislation is. We can fight terrorists smartly using all possible surveillance techniques without having to trust one branch of government that they're not using that power to nefarious ends. It's just silly.

So silly, in fact, that Congress may not be able to approve it:

Congress is unlikely to approve a bill giving President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program legal status and new restrictions before the November midterm elections, dealing a significant blow to one of the White House's top wartime priorities.

House and Senate versions of the legislation differ too much to bridge the gap by week's end, when Congress recesses until after the Nov. 7 elections, according to two GOP leadership aides who demanded anonymity because the decision had not yet been announced.

House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters Tuesday that his chamber would bring up a bill by Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M. Asked whether that version could be reconciled with the Senate's White House-approved bill, Boehner replied:

"We'd like to, but I think that might be a stretch."

I hear that Mitch McConnell is going to try and package wiretapping and torture into one big "America the Horrible" bill. That sidesteps the reconciling between the House and Senate to an extent. But maybe they'll drop wiretapping out of it because the differences are too great.

Either way, the longer that bill is delayed, the more truth that can come out about how dangerous it truly is.

UPDATE: I was waiting to see Glenn Greenwald's take on this. He basically brings up the fact that this has more to do with the legislative calendar than real Congressional oversight, and that if the Republicans retain Congress, this is merely a delay, as they'll come back and enact warrantless wiretapping at that time. All the more reason to vote Democratic this November.