The Journal posed an interesting question in their December 20th editorial, "9/11 changes debate on electronic spying". Unfortunately by taking the President's answers they have dropped out of the debate, presuming there ever was one. The point is not whether eavesdropping would have prevented anything.
If going to war was necessary because existing policies were not working, the President should at least be required to prove not only that wiretaps prevent something but that he could not have used them under the law, both before September 11th, and after congress granted broader authority. Until congress finishes the promised and forgotten investigation into the use of pre-war intelligence, we should be very concerned whether any is being used to protect our constitution.
I don’t know if enough in congress have learned any lessons, but certainly not this editorial board. They concluded, "Once we may have joined in that debate. But that was before Sept. 11, when we were awakened to a reality we didn't see coming. If electronic spying could have stopped Mohammed Atta and his cohorts ... you should be able to finish that sentence yourself."
If it is that simple, what is the next thing we won’t see coming and what will prevent another wake-up? How much power is needed to prevent power from being grabbed, either by leaders or followers? Maybe in the Journals dreams it will all work out, but they certainly can‘t be depended upon to burst any bubbles either as a member of the fourth estate or by knowing a debate if there was one. The problem is that those who could finish the answer to the one question miss the irony in having one point of view.
[The Journal probably thinks their readers don't know that the media is the Fourth Estate, and that is just fine with the paper as they are not doing their job anyway.]
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