See if it sounds familiar.
Idea of the Week: Fighting Terrorism Within the Rule of LawThe debate over the president's approval of a National Security Agency surveillance program aimed at communications involving Americans and overseas terrorism suspects is being turned by the Bush administration into a false choice between fighting terrorism and observing the rule of law. And as White House political guru Karl Rove made clear in remarks to the Republican National Committee last week, the GOP intends to make this issue a partisan fight, and ride it like a hobby horse all the way into this November's midterm elections.
...."We see no particular value in dwelling on the administration's past behavior. The more important question is how to bring counter-terrorism surveillance under the rule of law in the present and future. The goal must be to give national security agencies the authority they need to stop terrorist attacks, while also providing the oversight necessary to ensure their efforts are effective and do not violate Americans' civil liberties.
..."For their part, Democrats should focus less on hashing over the administration's past behavior, and focus more on working with responsible Republicans to set new and reasonable rules for the new war that began on 9/11. That's the right thing to do, and it will also help Democrats avoid the political trap Karl Rove so publicly set last week.
..."Democrats should take the position that they are happy to give the administration all the legal authority it wants and needs in exchange for accepting responsibility for actual results.
In the end, the war on terror does not require a president above the law, and the rule of law does not require unreasonable restrictions on surveillance.
Read it once and then again.