The phrase “cave-in” can get thrown around too often. Legislation requires compromise, and activists are pretty much never completely happy with anything that actually manages to make it through the proverbial sausage factory. That said, this FISA compromise really is a cave-in. As David Kurtz says:
Who really thinks that the White House and the telecoms would go along with this so-called “conditional immunity” that congressional Democrats have agreed to if they didn’t think they could satisfy the condition?
Right. Also, why construct some pre-lawsuit review procedure when a judge could just, you know, entertain a motion for summary judgment?
More here.
