1 Boring Old Man

Among those of us who deal with our disgust with the trajectory of our country under Bush by writing about it, there are a few specialists. Eriposte of the Left Coaster is the specialist on the Niger Forgeries. Firedoglake leads the Plame watch. Glenn Greenwald is way out in front of the N.S.A. Unwarranted Domestic Surveillance scandal. He recently wrote a lovely piece, The Long Hard Slog, entreating us to keep the faith after Senator Pat Roberts [Kansas] got the Senate Intelligence Committee to table their inquiry. Greenwald points out that this is just Round 1 and that there is progress in a number of other areas. I agree with him. I think he’s right to bolster the troops. He urges us not to be morbidly depressed, and give up the good fight.

But, I for one am outraged. No matter where one stands on this N.S.A. issue, it needs to be debated in public. Pat Roberts is keeping it from being looked into. Even if one thinks it’s okay for Bush to skip over the courts and do it without telling anyone that he’s doing it, it deserves investigation and debate. So, maybe Greenwald’s right that we shouldn’t be disheartened, but I am. I don’t know how to pretend otherwise. This is simply a tragedy – part of the Bush Administration’s attempt to take over America in a bloodless coup. So thanks for the pep talk, but it doesn’t help. I need to feel badly about this one. A lot of us need to…