Just to focus the last item a little more, when it comes to FISA expansion, the president and his supporters are pulling all the stops. Here, for example, was Bush in the Rose Garden this morning:
“This Saturday at midnight, legislation authorizing intelligence professionals to quickly and effectively monitor terrorist communications will expire. If Congress does not act by that time, our ability to find out who the terrorists are talking to, what they are saying, and what they are planning will be compromised.”
He added that the “lives of countless Americans” are at stake, and that “there will be a gap” in our intelligence gathering.
It’s a common sentiment today.
* House Deputy Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.): “Our intelligence agencies need the tools necessary to listen in on terrorists who threaten and plot to do harm to our country. The Senate worked together in a bipartisan fashion earlier this week to accomplish this goal, but the House Democrat Leadership refuses to do the same. It [sic] Al-Qaeda is talking, we should be able to listen.”
* House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio): “We have space on the calendar today for a politically charged fishing expedition, but no space for a bill that would protect the American people from terrorists who want to kill us.”
* National Review’s Andy McCarthy: “Well it looks like the unconscionable is about to occur. I am hearing from several sources that the House is planning to recess on Friday without taking up the Senate bill. That would mean the lapse of our surveillance authority at midnight…. President Bush has to keep pounding this, as does Sen. McCain. This is not politics, folks. For grown-ups, this is life and death.”
If any of these guys had their facts straight, their shameless demagoguery might even be compelling. If the poorly named “Protect America Act” was really vitally necessary to protect the country from a terrorist attack — if life and death were literally in the balance — Bush and the Republican would be right, and any delay would be outrageous.
But therein lies the rub: all of these people are lying. Badly.
This really isn’t a matter of opinion. The Republicans’ claims are just patently false. Presumably, these lawmakers and the president understand the basics of this debate, which makes their demonstrably wrong claims simple lies. That may sound impolite, but if there’s a more charitable explanation, I can’t think of it.
First, surveillance will go on unhindered, whether the House passes Bush’s bill or not.
The lapsing of the deadline would have little practical effect on intelligence gathering. Intelligence officials would be able to intercept communications from Qaeda members or other identified terrorist groups for a year after the initial eavesdropping authorization for that particular group.
If a new terrorist group is identified after Saturday, intelligence officials would not be able to use the broadened eavesdropping authority. They would be able to seek a warrant under the more restrictive standards in place for three decades through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Second, if the powers extended through the PPA were genuinely a matter of “life and death,” which “grown-ups” should appreciate, Republicans could get exactly the surveillance powers they want today if they dropped telecom immunity.
Look, if it’s that important, there’s a simple answer: pass the bill without telecom immunity. Then come back and introduce immunity in a separate bill. If you’ve got the votes for it, fine. If not, too bad. I’m against immunity myself — though hardly hellbent on the subject — but whichever way the vote went, in the meantime we’d have the FISA extension and surveillance could continue normally.
But that’s not on the table. The supposed grownups in the GOP are, apparently, perfectly happy to play around with “life and death” if it’s in the service of a bit of demagogic brinksmanship over telecom immunity.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. The PPA powers are absolutely critical, they say, but Bush will veto unless an unrelated effort to adjudicate from the Hill is included. The powers are a matter of life and death, they say, but Bush will veto an extension of the status quo. The powers will literally save lives from al Qaeda terrorism, they say, but Bush will veto the whole thing unless every provision meets his standards.
This is a bad joke, and a clumsy con job. Republicans pulled a little stunt today, with their walk-out temper-tantrum, but it doesn’t change the fact that when it comes to debating this issue on the merits, their entire argument is based on lies, misdirection, and a willingness to undermine the system of checks and balances.