"I direct your attention to a column by Glenn Greenwald, who dissects 'the remarkably dishonest Op-Ed in The Washington Post this morning by Mike McConnell, the Bush administration's Director of National Intelligence, in which he argues for completely unspecified "updates" and "changes" to FISA in order to expand -- yet again -- the Government's powers of eavesdropping on Americans.'

Mr. Greenwald's post is located at http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/?last_story=/opinion/greenwald/2007/05/21/fisa_changes/ .

Mr. McConnell's Editorial can be read at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/20/AR2007052001058.html?hpid=opinionsbox1 .

As you know, in October of 2001, the Bush Administration requested and Congress granted, numerous changes to FISA which expanded the President's eavesdropping powers and which the administration claimed were necessary in order to bring FISA into the 21st Century by allowing surveillance of modern communication methods.

You should also know that the Senate has since proposed multiple amendments to FISA to facilitate obtaining FISA warrants which the Bush Administration opposed as being unnecessary. Mr. Greenwald notes, and I agreed entirely, that '[t]he administration is not, and never has been, interested in expanding the scope of FISA in order to enable them to obtain warrants more easily or accommodate "new technology." Their overriding goal has been, and plainly continues to be, the total elimination of meaningful oversight with regard to how the government eavesdrops on Americans.'

In his editorial, Mr. McConnell also states that 'I am encouraged that in my discussions with members of Congress, and in congressional hearings on this subject over the past year, there is recognition of the need to improve our intelligence efforts and close critical gaps created by changes in technology.'

As your constituent, I've generally been supportive of your efforts. Let me clear on this:

ANY ACTION ON BEHALF OF YOU OR ANY OTHER DEMOCRATIC REPRESENTATIVE TO EXPAND PRESIDENTIAL POWERS OF SURVEILLANCE OR LIMIT CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT UNDER FISA SHALL FACE THE FURY AND WRATH OF NOT ONLY PROGRESSIVES, BUT OF ALL AMERICANS WHO BELIEVE THAT THE RIGHT TO PRIVACY IS A PRIMARY ELEMENT OF OUR FORM OF DEMOCRACY. PROCEED DOWN THIS PATH AT YOUR PERIL."

I've plagiarized some from Glenn in the main body of this letter, but also directly attributed to him on those quotes of most importance. As it is, this is the best I can do on short notice. I strongly urge everyone to send a similar message to their representatives.

An alien race vastly superior to ours lands on our planet and looks askance at the mess we've made. Tsk, tsk. So they clean up the pollution, give us clean energy, restore the species we've killed and build massive bases on each continent to suppress all primitive aggression by humans. Oh, and they also dissolve all current forms of human government and require the indigineous planetary population to form a new society patterned after their own.

Five years later they wonder: Why are these primitive humans so angry at us?

//////

The imperial mindset presupposes superiority. The proponents dare not say it aloud, but it's there. "Why, leave Iraq? If we do that, those savage middle eastern tribes will take over and there will be chaos and mass destruction! (oh, and we won't have access to their cheap oil)."

I give the people of the Middle East more credit. Yes, there will be bloodshed when we leave (a lot like the current bloodshed). But without the U.S. presence, Al Qaeda will have no purpose and will quickly be driven out by all elements of any internal conflict. Then the opposing factions will be left to sort things out for themselves, like any other country in history (have we forgotten our own civil war?). The ensuing problems will only effectively addressed by a coalition composed of nations that have credibility with the warring factions. The U.S. alone does not fulfill that requirement.

Our country has resettled an abysmal number of refugees compared to European countries, who have already relocated tens of thousands of refugees.

Any meaningful withdrawal will require the relocation of millions of people who would otherwise face persecution and reprisal by the warring factions. The Bush Administration has to be held to account on this as a failure akin to the Katrina debacle. Yet another display of massive incompetence.

People have to work hard to get their heads around the sheer volume of failure and incompetence by this administration. It's like understanding the federal debt or imagining the edge of the universe. Too much work.

I don't think Rudy would have had anything of value to contribute to the ISG, but his decision not to attend in order to rake in $$ for speaking engagements looks bad politically.

I can hear the voice-over now:

"Rudy Giuliani claims to be strong on foreign policy, but when it came time for him to make a difference at the ISG, he was too busy collecting lucrative honorariums at speaking engagements to help solve the biggest issue this country faces . . . "

If he was a Democrat, the Repubs would be all over this, distributing speaking points and arranging for TV and radio airtime.

This is definitely one to develop for 2008.

Demanding that the person responsible for the headline be FIRED and that as a supposedly nuetral news agency, A.P. should be ashamed.

Not that they've ever been truly neutral, but if they catch enough shit, maybe they will think twice before trying a stunt like that.

This wasn't sloppy, it was intentional.

I think this phrase should be the theme in 2008 which describes the universal incompetence of the past six years. Commercials should punctuate each item with a hearty "Heckuva Job, _______________!" Bush & Co. have to be made the sole owners of all these debacles.