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[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Spanky
First you said:



Then you said:




So are most of the people, like you, that are complaining about the constitutionality of the wiretaps, basing their complaints ona freakishly novel approach? That seems to back up the argument that these people don't have much of a leg to stand on and it is just political hyperbole.

I think most people think of the wiretapping issue as a civil liberties issue and a violation of their consitutuional rights. That is the way the Dems are trying to spin it. But it isn't. All the calls either leave the US or originate outside of the US, and one has no constitutional right to privacy with those type of calls.

It may be a breach of FISA, but FISA restricts the Federal governments ability to use wiretaps beyond the limits set by the constitution. So this is not really a constitutional issue, but just one of the executive branch breaking a congressional law.

You are correct (although I don't know enough about the Fourth Amendment in this context to be sure about that part). The issue is one of the executive branch wiretapping people for four years even though a federal statute makes it a criminal offense, and then asserting that the president has a right to ignore the law.