What Americans MUST be told about Bush's NSA spying

I'm seeing an awful lot of references to polls that say a majority of Americans "approve" of Bush's illegal NSA spying, and that they "approve" of it even if it is illegal. It's a scant, barely 50% majority, but a majority nonetheless.

But there is one big, big problem with this - the people in that 50% aren't being told the truth.

Just as people have been working overtime to kill the lie that the Jack Abramoff scandal is bi-partisan, we must end the biggest misconception that Americans have about the NSA spying: that following the rule of law would prevent the government from conducting surveillance on members of al-Qaeda, or on Americans who may be working with terrorists.

This simply is not true. Following the rule of law will not, in any way, impede the surveillance of anyone who is a threat to national security.

If you read letters to editors concerning this subject, some people seem to think that those of us who oppose Bush's illegal spying would just as soon give al-Qaeda the keys to the front door and tell them where the jewelry and good silver is, and give them a good recipe for a biotoxin and the schematics for a nuke, while we're at it. Although I realize that there are partisan Republican hacks who will ignore the truth at all costs out of party loyalty, I think there are many, many more people who simply do not know the facts about FISA and the NSA wiretaps, and are letting their fear get the best of them for no good reason. (Not that there's ever a good reason to let fear rule your life.)

These are the people who must learn the truth, and it doesn't have to be complicated. We must tell them that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, was made law in 1978, and that it allows the government to conduct surveillance on foreign nationals, or Americans working with foreign nationals, as long as a warrant is obtained.

They must be told that, in over 25 years, only four warrant requests have been declined. They must be told that the Bush Administration has been granted nearly 6,000 of these warrants. They must be told that special courts were established to expedite the approval of these warrants, and that the government can even start their surveillance before they've gotten the warrant - that there is no possibility of "paper work" slowing down their spying.

They must be told that there is absolutely no reason for the Bush Administration to break the law in the name of "national security," and they must be told that the only logical reason for them to break the law is that they're spying on people they shouldn't be.

This is the kind of information that should be on every front page of every newspaper and every news website, and should be the lead story on every broadcast and cable newscast. But we know that it won't be - at least not without a lot of prodding and cajoling from us.

The more people finally learn the truth, the more that scant 50% on Bush's side will shrink. And more people will start to realize that maybe it's time that we put an end to the madness of another King George.