Another glimmer of hope and sanity emerged today as a federal judge ruled that the NSA's so-called "terrorist surveillance program", commonly referred to as warrantless wiretapping, not only violates the law but the constitution as well and ordered an immediate halt to the program. What this means is that the smokescreen about this activity potentially being legal is off the table. What it doesn't mean is a cessation of the program.
There are two basic reasons for this: First, the government will likely petition for (and will likely be granted) a stay pending outcome of appeal, said appeal to drag on for years potentially. Secondly, this administration has made it perfectly clear to date that they do not feel they need to play by the same rules the rest of us do. Lacking any enforcement mechanism (given our rubber stamp congress), her ruling is likely unable to be enforced.
But still, thank the heavens for "activist" judges who still recognize the law when they see it. It will be interesting to see how long it takes Mr. Cheney to publicly call this ruling a "victory for al-Quaeda".
Read the complete ruling--PDF
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