Dissatisfaction is creeping into the ranks of the Pres' supporters. Prof Bainbridge:
Coercive interrogations. A gulag of secret prisons. And now warrantless surveillance.We're supposed to be better than this.
There's been some argument as to whether the warrantless wiretaps were legal or not, all of which avoids a bigger question-
Why did anyone think they were necessary? Warrants aren't hard to get.
Especially when you have your own private federal judge on staff whose almost sole purpose is to issue warrants under FISA on a moment's notice. And in the case that they needed to start surveillance while the judge was in the loo or something, they can--they have 72 hours to obtain a retroactive warrant.
No excuse.
I was going to say something similar to the above comment. "Why did anyone think they were necessary?" This is the question everyone is asking (except for those who answer, as usual, how high should I jump, Mr. President?)
"Warrants aren't hard to get." Especially from the surveillance court, according to popular rumor, but, then, hard for us to know for sure, isn't it?; this is a problem with having a Star Chamber.
Actually, Josh Marshall has the FISA numbers here, by the way. I had some other comments here.