IT'S A DANGED PECULIAR NOTION...:

Court ruling endorses Bush surveillance policy (PETE YOST, 1/16/09, AP)

A special appeals court for the first time has upheld a Bush administration program of warrantless surveillance. [...]

The U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review said the time needed to get a court warrant would hinder the government's ability to collect time-sensitive information, impeding vital national security interests.

The challenge to the law has presented no evidence of any actual harm or any broad potential for abuse, the court's three judges concluded.

"Our decision does not constitute an endorsement of broad-based, indiscriminate executive power," the court said. "Rather, our decision recognizes that where the government has instituted several layers of serviceable safeguards ... its efforts to protect national security should not be frustrated by the courts."

...that national security is primarily a matter for the Judiciary.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 16, 2009 8:27 AM