Bush broke the law. President Obama followed it.

[Laelth]

19. Obama has handled this matter better than Bush did.

No doubt about it. The practices and policies of Obama's NSA are much more legal and proper, as I would expect from a Democratic administration. What Obama's NSA is doing is legal, but that does not make it right, nor does that make it Constitutional. We really need some new guidance on this issue from the SCOTUS. Some form of appeal process needs to be written into the FISA law in order to give the SCOTUS a chance to rule on it.

Repealing the Patriot Act, in toto, is highly unlikely. I wouldn't even want to repeal the FISA Act. That was our idea, and it was a good law until it got amended (and abrogated, in part) by the Patriot Act.

I think we need leadership on this issue. Somebody has got to stand up for the 4th Amendment. If not the President, then who? It is not persuasive for the President to simply argue, "I'm just following the law. If you want the law changed, talk to your Congressperson." That feels like a dodge to me.

We can do better.

-Laelth