A federal judge ruled Thursday that the government's warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and ordered an immediate halt to it.

U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit became the first judge to strike down the National Security Agency's program, which she says violates the rights to free speech and privacy as well as the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution.

and the government argument?

The government argued that the program is well within the president's authority, but said proving that would require revealing state secrets.

The ACLU said the state-secrets argument was irrelevant because the Bush administration had already publicly revealed enough information about the program for Taylor to rule on the case.

"By holding that even the president is not above the law, the court has done its duty," said Ann Beeson, the ACLU's associate legal director and the lead attorney for the plaintiffs.

The NSA had no immediate comment on the ruling.

There you have it. In right-wing world the president's authority is a state secret.

A federal judge ruled Thursday that the government's warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and ordered an immediate halt to it.

U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit became the first judge to strike down the National Security Agency's program, which she says violates the rights to free speech and privacy as well as the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution.

and the government argument?

The government argued that the program is well within the president's authority, but said proving that would require revealing state secrets.

The ACLU said the state-secrets argument was irrelevant because the Bush administration had already publicly revealed enough information about the program for Taylor to rule on the case.

"By holding that even the president is not above the law, the court has done its duty," said Ann Beeson, the ACLU's associate legal director and the lead attorney for the plaintiffs.

The NSA had no immediate comment on the ruling.

There you have it. In right-wing world the president's authority is a state secret.

well Charleston isn't that sweet, but It'll do for now. Spent the last couple of days packing up my stuff and returning from an amazing summer in Washington, DC. Pleanty of stories to be told, and here's a great place to start.

The Adventures of Superbush. It is that again. Join us Thursday night at 5:30 p.m. at Juanita Greenberg's for another exciting episode of The Adventures of Superbush! We shall be out back on the covered patio awaiting your liberal presence.

In this week's episode we find that Superbush has left the refuge of the Fortress of Fake Cowboyness in Crawford for political speechifying and strategerizing and money-raising around the country for fellow members of the League of Injustice. On his way of Crawford, Superbush's pet British poodle Tony Blair managed to uncover a nest of stunned and bewildered Wannabe Terrorists who were thinking about maybe one day making some make magic gatorade. Superbush, speaking to reporters, to full credit for uncovering the nest of Wannabe Terrorists he called Islamofascists while Blair gazed adoringly at his master. Superbush then leapt into the air, leaving the awe-struck reporters of the So-Called Liberal Media behind to attend a secret meeting with his base: the Have's and Have More's where Superbush declared that he had never tried to connect 9/11/01 or Al Qaeda with Iraq or Sodamn Insane. I must have missed the part where Superbush and everyone else in his Misadministration did not say that.

This announcement prompted Edward R. Murrow, reincarnated as Keith Olbermann, to ask "Who is he f-ing kiddin'?" Well, approximately 50% of the American people, according to some of the latest polls. They really need to join us at Drinking Liberally because they obviously need a drink to clear their minds. But you should watch Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC weeknights at 8:00 p.m. if you are not already doing so. (I know you can't watch on Thursday nights because you'll be drinking liberally.)

Let's see, Katherine "Superwoman " Harris (R-Abrahoff) is still fumbling her senatorial campaign so badly that no other member of the League of Injustice will even speak her name. Still, using her Boobies of Power she managed to find an opossum in, well, an opossum pit at a fair. George Felix "The Coach" Allen, Jr. (R-VA) welcomed an real Virginian to America after using his mother's favorite French racial slur on the real Virginia student. The real Virginia student, who films The Coach for opponent Jim Webb, um, caught the incident on his camera.

The Department of Homeland Insecurity (that's English for Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti for you younger kids) raised its Idiocy Level to Piss-in-your-Pants Scared for flights originating from Great Britain and Shaking-in-your-Boots Scared for other flights having nothing to do with terrorist plans. The rest of us were just supposed to stay Scared for some reason or another. (Possibly an upcoming election of something, not sure?)

On Saturday, August 19, 2006, Superbush's adventure in Iraq will have officially lasted longer than US involvement in World War II. Way to show them, Superbush.

On a happy note. This just in from Drinking Liberally Headquarters (Justin Krebs) : "I apologize for the delay. We were waiting for a new shipment of bottle openers. They have arrived, and all will be sent to you in the next several days, along with some additional buttons to thank you for your patience." Yeeeeeeeeeeeehaaaaaawwww! New buttons and bottle openers will be arriving soon. Maybe not this week, but certainly by next week. (No. You did not read this same thing last week. You are psychic and foresaw it. BTW, I need some lottery numbers for Saturday.)

So, quit being mean to the whiny righties and join us tomorrow night at Drinking Liberally.

That is Drinking Liberally for this the 1,203th day since the declaring of "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq. We're your city leaders, goodnight and good luck.

Liberally yours,
Sadie, Leslie, Mike & Marilyn
Juanita Greenberg's
439 King Street - Downtown
5:30pm until O'Someone Been Forgotten is located and captured
This and every Thursday
843.723.NACHO(6224)
On King, just a couple of blocks above Calhoun. Look for the blinking lights.
http://www.juanitagreenbergs.com/index.php

Bruce Schneier on the recent terror attack attempt (I love being able to say 'attempt'):

None of the airplane security measures implemented because of 9/11 -- no-fly lists, secondary screening, prohibitions against pocket knives and corkscrews -- had anything to do with last week's arrests. And they wouldn't have prevented the planned attacks, had the terrorists not been arrested. A national ID card wouldn't have made a difference, either.

Instead, the arrests are a victory for old-fashioned intelligence and investigation. Details are still secret, but police in at least two countries were watching the terrorists for a long time. They followed leads, figured out who was talking to whom, and slowly pieced together both the network and the plot.
...
The goal of a terrorist is to cause terror. Last week's arrests demonstrate how real security doesn't focus on possible terrorist tactics, but on the terrorists themselves. It's a victory for intelligence and investigation, and a dramatic demonstration of how investments in these areas pay off.

And if you want to know what you can do to help? Don't be terrorized. They terrorize more of us if they kill some of us, but the dead are beside the point. If we give in to fear, the terrorists achieve their goal even if they were arrested. If we refuse to be terrorized, then they lose -- even if their succeed.

The Daily Press: "I've made no bones about it the last two years," Davis told members of the Hampton Roads Chapter of the American Society of Military Comptrollers on Thursday. "He's probably a nice guy, but I don't think he's a great secretary of defense."

Later she amended her "nice guy" assessment by saying Rumsfeld had come across as arrogant in her dealings with him, which stretch back to committee work during her freshman term in Congress, in 2001.

...she added, "I think if he had listened to Gen. (Eric) Shinseki in the beginning - I think Gen. Shinseki has been proven right. His argument with Secretary Rumsfeld was that we needed to have more troops, and he's right in my opinion."

In 2003, before the war started, Shinseki, then the Army chief of staff, said he believed that hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops would be needed there during the postwar period.

On Aug. 1 of that year, Rumsfeld fired him.