After James Risen's article's surfaced last December on the illegal wiretapping of American citizens, Bush made no secret of his contempt for the legal process. You would think that true conservatives (if there are any left in the senate) would have been outraged by the Bush Administrations power grab.

At first, they was bi-partisan outrage. There was talk of hearings and I thought for once, both parties would come together to ensure there was oversight. When Al Gonzales framed the issue as conducting surveillance on terrorists vs not conducting surveillance, I scoffed, thinking for sure that any smart individual could see through this propaganda. The issue wasn't ever about the right to wiretapp terrrorist suspects. The issue was OVERSIGHT! I want the government to be able to conduct surveillance on people who might be suspected of plotting terrorist attacks against innocent people. I just want a court to determine whether there is "probable cause" to conduct that survellance. Thats the issue.

Now the Republicans are putting forth a plan:

The Republican proposal would give Congressional approval to the eavesdropping program much as it was secretly authorized by Mr. Bush after the 2001 terrorist attacks, with limited notification to a handful of Congressional leaders. The N.S.A. would be permitted to intercept the international phone calls and e-mail messages of people in the United States if there was "probable cause to believe that one party to the communication is a member, affiliate, or working in support of a terrorist group or organization," according to a written summary of the proposal issued by its Republican sponsors. The finding of probable cause would not be reviewed by any court.

This plan would allow the president to conduct warrantless wiretapping for 45 days instead of previously just 3 days. Is this supposed to be an improvement? The Republican led Congress has shamefully become a rubber stamp for the President.