February 09, 2006
NSA Spying Taps Bipartisan Concern

One of the bright spots in debate around the adminstration's warrantless NSA suvreillance is a reminder that privacy and the rule of law are bipartisan issues. Republican Arlen Specter has been asking tough questions of Attorney General Gonzales at Judiciary Committee hearings, joined by senators on both sides of the aisle. Last night on The NewsHour, Republican Lindsey Graham expressed his constitutional concerns in the strongest terms:

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: All I can tell you is that the ultimate damage that I want to avoid is a constitutional damage in terms of checks and balances. I want to fight this enemy. I want to make sure our president and our military surveils the enemy. I want to know if American citizens are collaborating with the enemy. We can do that. We must do that.

But the biggest thing that can happen, to me, as a nation is that in the process of fighting the enemy, we give up the processes that makes us free.

We must not fight for freedom abroad by suppressing it at home.

Posted by Wendy at 10:19 AM