Of course, we won't hear about any of this because Russ Feingold and NBC and ABC and CBS and MSNBC and National Public Radio and CNN don't have access to National Review.
Well, either that or they don't care about the facts.
The answer is they don't care about facts.
From Terry Frieden
CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) --The United States has broad authority to use wiretaps and other surveillance techniques to hunt for suspected terrorists, a federal appeals court panel ruled Monday.
In a 56-page opinion overturning a May decision by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the three-judge panel said the expanded wiretap guidelines sought by Attorney General John Ashcroft under the new USA Patriot Act law do not violate the Constitution. (More on the USA Patriot Act)
The ruling by the special panel from the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia gives broad surveillance authority to counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism investigators to track individuals considered potential national security threats.
"Our case may well involve the most serious threat our country faces," the panel declared.
The reversal of May's decision by a federal judge represents a victory for the Justice Department and the FBI, which were harshly criticized by the lower court judge for its handling of wiretap applications, and their interpretation of the authority granted the government by the USA Patriot Act.
They didn't give the executive branch anything. The Constitution did that, they merely upheld the Constitution.
Imagine that, a 3 judge federal court upholding the letter and the spirit of the Constitution. Now I know where that order for red long underwear with an extra hole for a third lower appendage came from back in '02.