IMO, NSA story will come down to lowering 'probable cause'

[darkstar]

threshold, "the need for a new (lowered) standard in the extremely dangerous post 9/11 world."

Spying on political enemies, maybe. Maybe.

But, IMO, the incremental lowering of PC--even if there is an enemies list--will be more damaging to the nation in the long run.

The only reason to not go to FISA is inability to meet current PC threshold. Enemies list or not.

The arguments about this--again, sans enemy list--will be so complex re: ECHELON style broad catch, key word monitoring, PC vs "reasonable suspicion" that many (most?) will not understand. Of those who *think* they do, many (most?) will shrug and say "Well, I don't use those words on the phone; it appears they don't really listen to your actual calls if you don't speak in Arabic and/or use those words; hence, they are really only eavesdropping on potential bad guys in a dangerous world."

This is in classic, well planned, incremental erosion of liberty at work.

And unfortunately, this step, if unchecked, is a particularly HUGE increment. Further erosion of the PC threshold, in particular, will be child's play if this is allowed to stand.