So what can we expect tomorrow when the hearings into the wiretapping kick
off. Well
Time
magazine has a little preview.

According to the documents, Gonzales plans to assert in his opening
statement that seeking approval for the wiretaps from the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court could result in delays that “may
make the difference between success and failure in preventing the next
attack.” He will compare the program to telegraph wiretapping during the
Civil War. In accompanying testimony, the Attorney General plans to
leave open the possibility that President Bush will ask the court to give
blanket approval to the program, a step that some lawmakers and even some
Administration officials contend would put it on more solid legal footing.

Read the complete article
here.

So let’s get this straight. On January 26, the President said this when asked
why he wasn’t using the FISA courts:

Secondly, the FISA law was written in 1978. We’re having this discussion
in 2006. It’s a different world. And FISA is still an important tool. It’s
an important tool. And we still use that tool. But also — and we — look —
I said, look, is it possible to conduct this program under the old law? And
people said, it doesn’t work in order to be able to do the job we expect us
to do.

Complete transcript available
here.

So we could not use the courts because it was an “old” law (should we throw
out the constitution now), yet Gonzalez will defend the program because we did
the same thing over 140 years ago? I guess we should send some cannons and
muskets over to Iraq for our troops.