Sunday, 18 December 2005 - 12:16 PM CST

"...the right of al-Qaedists to communicate from our own soil with those who are helping them plot mass murder."

Bullshit. No one is defending that. No thinking American does object to spying on those who have links to Al Qaeda. The President has authority available to him under law, and apart from the so-called Patriot Act, to conduct surveillance of anyone with links to Al Qaeda, so long as he obtains a warrant from the court.

You should explain why the President wilfully circumvented (violated) the law which would have enabled him to intercept such communications even before 9-11.

FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) became law in 1978. It requires a court warrant, but it even permits retroactive applications within 72 hours of emergency taps! It does involve a court and the federal court system. It does involve a federal judge. It does involve oversight by the Judiciary. The Executive is not the whole government in our system.

The President had everything he needed to spy on suspected Al Qaedists and on Americans with suspected links to Al Qaedists before the WTC attacks of September 11, 2001. He just needed to request a warrant.

The question for him, and those who choose defend, preserve, and protect him instead of the Constitution, is why he decided to trample the law that would have permitted him to surveil Al Qaeda chatrooms, emails, faxes, and phone conversations. The answer, I imagine, is going to be some form of "I can do whatever I want. I can spy on whoever I choose. I am the law."