is a violation of the 4th Amendment...perhaps that is why they want to wait until 2009...I sure as heck don't know. The Immunity part is clearly Obstruction of Justice. It is about stopping lawsuits that could involve members of Congress perhaps. The new FISA "bill" is unconstitutional and will be stricken down....someday. look for a quote from Anna Eschoo before looking for my own senators? (just trying to make sure i have the priorities straight -- the only other fisa thing i have cooking is a diary on house kabuki since august). I am not certain on this at all, but there may also be a profound difference in the standard of analysis applied to the FISA consideration as opposed to the Boumediene consideration by the SCOTUS. This is part and parcel of what I keep yammering about on the difference between a liberty removal claim versus a civil damage claim. What standard is applied by the justices is critical, and if one (liberty) is strict scrutiny and the other (FISA) is rational basis; I think that SCOTUS won't set aside like they did in Boumediene . Let's hope that Scalia, Alito, Thomas or Roberts has a skeleton in their closet where they get arrested and convicted of some crime so that Obama can replace them. Any investigative reporters out there working this? lol Telecommunications companies donated more money, on average, to Democrats who changed their minds last week and supported immunity for those companies' cooperation with administration wiretapping practices,