If You've Done Nothing Wrong ...

(Cartoon by Steve Sack and published 1/19/14 in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.)

President Obama has indicated that he might fine tune the NSA's domestic spying program, an oblique nod to those who object to having all of the their phone calls, snail mail, and emails  monitored by the government.  Frankly, I don't expect much from the president on this issue beyond his statement.

 And I don't expect Congress to do anything.  After all, the reasoning goes, 9/11! and terrists!  Dianne Feinstein (Dino, CA) chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee and she makes it very clear that she believes the NSA program is just fine the way it is and that she hopes President Obama doesn't tinker with it at all.

From the L.A. Times:

... [Feinstein] has emerged as one of the Capitol's staunchest defenders of the nation's spy agencies.
"Let me ask you," she said. "Supposing the program is knocked out and, God forbid, a year down the pike something happens? I'd never forgive myself."

In more than 40 years in public life, Feinstein, 80, often has zigged as other Democrats zagged. In her unsuccessful run for governor in 1990, for example, she famously departed from liberal orthodoxy of the day to support the death penalty, drawing sustained boos at a state party convention.

But her crusade to preserve the National Security Agency's massive tracking programs stands out. Rarely has a senator fought so hard for something that dismays so many of her erstwhile supporters.

Apparently Sen. Feinstein believes the Bill of Rights is merely advisory and can be suspended whenever the government feels threatened.

I'm too old for this dangerous bullshit.