Olbermann slams Bush on FISA

If you missed it, last night MSNBC's Keith Olbermann laid off the tired Bill-O'Reilly-sucks shtick long enough to make an impassioned attack on President Bush and his ongoing attempt to link open-ended power to conduct wiretaps without judicial oversight to immunity from legal liability for telecommunications companies who break the law while assisting the government with its eavesdropping schemes.

See the full rant here:



Specifically, Olbermann challenges Bush's claim that we're doomed -- doomed -- unless the government is free to monitor electronic communications at will (so long as it invokes the words "foreign intelligence"), followed by his threat to reject any legislation that grants him the oh-so-necessary power he wants, but that excludes legal immunity for his corporate collaborators.

For the record, I hope that Bush does veto any expansion of wiretapping powers sent his way -- and that Congress then declines to pass any further legislation on the matter beyond the 15-day extension that's already law. That would spare us the fallout from such easily abused power, and leave Bush with egg on his face.