Well the house has passed a new surveillance bill that will most likely pass the senate despite objections from privacy groups and lovers of freedom everywhere in the United States. The new bill grants immunity to the telecoms without even knowing what they may have done. The law will require that a federal district court to review certifications from the attorney general saying the telecommunications companies received presidential orders telling them wiretaps were needed to detect or prevent a terrorist attack. I doubt that by time the year is that we will know any more than we know now. I think this is another one of the breaches of our civil liberties that is being swept aside. Nothing new or unusual from a congress that routinely caves in to the White House. Key senators like, Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, condemned the immunity deal. He said that nothing in the new bill would prevent the government from once again wiretapping domestic phone and computer lines without court permission. I doubt that he will get the votes to defeat or filibuster the bill. So it looks like illegal wiretapping will swept under the rug and even if it does finally show that Bush illegally wiretapped Americas communications he will be out of office by then. Why does this not surprise me?