Tourist; policy wonk; mourner

Over the weekend, I toured the Big Apple and snapped this pic looking south from the observatory deck of the Empire State Building....yes, yes, postcards are better, but wow, that's something to see.

After returning home to watch the Steelers clip the wings of the Seahawks, I settled back into the routine of practicing law by day, and political pundit by night....

Monday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing at which Attorney General Gonzales testified was a long overdue look at the warrantless wiretapping carried out by the NSA. I've got to give the Attorney General credit for coming to the table with an argument and presenting it clearly, but I'm not buying it.

Even though the Hamdi case (permitting detention of 'enemy combatants') provided backbone for his notion that the Congressional joint resolution authorizing all necessary force after 9/11 gave the President the "statute" he needed to avoid application of FISA, I just don't see why the NSA didn't simply go to the FISA court to obtain the necessary warrants, either before the wiretaps took place, or afterwards, seeking ratification of the same.

I agree with Senator Kennedy's (D-MA) concern that by crossing over the statutory boundaries, the NSA may render inadmissible any evidence gathered under these warrantless taps, and have the even more troubling result of squelching the conviction of the terrorists we are seeking to destroy. It seems to me that there was a safer way for the NSA to play its hand without sacrificing operational integrity...that is, request permission from the FISA court (precisely what the FISA court was established to do).

Tuesday's dose of television included political speeches at the funeral of Coretta Scott King. I had to turn it off during Bill Clinton's turn, not able to stomach the political glee-fest into which the somber occasion had turned. Coretta Scott King was an amazing woman, whose importance will be written into the history texts of this age, and while I'm all in favor of celebrating the lives of the deceased rather than bemoan their loss, these speeches were less about Coretta, and more about self-aggrandizement. Mrs. King, you deserved better, and my prayers are with your family as they come to terms with living without you near them.