NSA hearings begin

I'm sick as a dog today, so I won't be able to tune into the Senate Judiciary Committee's warrantless NSA surveillance hearing. Today's only witness is the Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales. Expect a couple dings about his recent confirmation testimony. See some live-blogging here. Update: Glenn Greenwald is providing a devastating liveblog as well:

Of course Gonzales begins his Opening Statement by quoting Osama bin Laden and Zawahri. We used to quote Madison, Jefferson and Lincoln to decide what the principles of our Government are going to be. Now we quote Al Qaeda. The Administration wants Al Qaeda and its speeches to dictate the type of Government we have. It is the centerpiece of everything they do and say.

The main question ought to be: When does a president's inherent authority permit him to ignore the law? Since current FISA law -- especially with retroactive warrants -- already anticipates all of the security necessities the president is invoking while providing at least some minimal judicial oversight, this is simply a good ol' fashioned checks-and-balances debate. In a political system defined by limitations on power, should we trust an executive refusing to acknowledge that?

Unfortunately, I have every reason to believe Gonzales will trot out the 'necessity' red herring and proceed to repeat it ad nauseum. TIME has a preview of Gonzales' testimony.

According to the documents, Gonzales plans to assert in his opening statement that seeking approval for the wiretaps from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court could result in delays that "may make the difference between success and failure in preventing the next attack."

National Public Radio has provided some excellent coverage of the issues here. They'll also provide a live feed of the hearings. Yesterday Jeremy Dibbell posted a good news round-up.

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Must read article from Fox News on what the response to the Danish Cartoon

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,183910,00.html