Asleep at The Wheel...

From the "Yeah; That's What We Were Trying To Warn You About" File:

Broad new surveillance powers approved by Congress this month could allow the Bush administration to conduct spy operations that go well beyond wiretapping to include — without court approval — certain types of physical searches on American soil and the collection of Americans’ business records, Democratic Congressional officials and other experts said.

Of course, the Bush Administration's crack legal squad will be able to properly decipher the logic and limits of these new "powers:"

Administration officials acknowledged that they had heard such concerns from Democrats in Congress recently, and that there was a continuing debate over the meaning of the legislative language. But they said the Democrats were simply raising theoretical questions based on a harsh interpretation of the legislation.

Oops; guess I spoke too soon. I really shouldn't expect much from a group who believe that the president can do anything s/he wants as long as they claim that what they're doing is "for the good of the people."

Remember: many a tyrant and despot have said the same thing. And even if their intentions were genuine, given the record these guys have with (lack of) follow-through and cronyism, I'm not expecting anything less but another story on "abusing power" in about a year...and keep an eye on how many Democrats who helped make this happen "voice their concerns."