>>>>FISA was developed before you were born, and for reasons that you may not understand because you've only reaped the benefits of that law and none of the factors that caused its creation in the first place. It was created for a reason, one of which was to protect your constitutional rights.
>>>>
>>>
>>>Garbage. It was created in a misguided attempt to weaken the executive branch of the government, particularly in light of Nixon's abuses of power. It is a flawed piece of legislation that gets in the way of the US' ability to protect itself. I offer this for your review:
>>>
>>>http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2006/01/moussaoui_911_fisa_how_the_lef_1.html
>>>
>>>Given the abuses that took place in the past, it is not surprising that people want to hold onto FISA. Yet to continue to pretend that FISA, when read as it was intended to be read, doesn’t create a hurdle that makes terrorist investigations more difficult than common sense would suggest is necessary is itself a myth.
>>
>>So what, Dan... the law is the law. If the law doesn't operate as needed, pass a new law. In the meantime, obey the existing law. It couldn't be simpler.
>>FISA WAS created to protect your constitutional rights. So where's the garbage in my statement?
>
>FISA was NOT created to protect my consitutional rights. FISA specifically deals with non-citizens: http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode50/usc_sec_50_00001801----000-.html
>
>It is also a direct result of the Church Committee's investigations. Quoting from Wikipedia: "The Congress was determined to rein in the Nixon administration and to ascertain the extent to which the nation's intelligence agencies had been involved in questionable, if not outright illegal, activities." We could have a nice, long argument whether Congress even has the right to do such a thing. According to Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, it would seem that they don't.
>
>The Church Committee, and the later Select Committee on Intelligence, basically gutted our intelligence agencies and ruined our abilities for gathering information abroad. The result has been a number of successful terrorist strikes against the US and our forces abroad. Not a real stellar legacy.
>
>How long does it take to pass laws in the US? It doesn't happen overnight. Meanwhile we are out on a limb unless we find out who is planning what. What do you suggest, Jim? That we worry about the d--d terrorists after they strike next?

How long did it take to pass the "Patriot Act"... I seem to remember less than 3 weeks.
I suggest that terrorists be sought/apprehended/trialed/sentenced WITHIN THE LAW.
That's what a "free society" and "democracy" is all about... things being done in the open for all to see/know.
Do you have an explanation, by the way, as to why an investigation on the NSA "leak" started only after the story went public despite the Administration knowing the whole story more than a year earlier? Isn't that enough of a smell to warn you that something ain't right?