So the Dems got weak in the knees and caved to Bush on expanding the eavesdropping program. Many wonder how the party in control could be strong-armed by an increasingly powerless president. Go figure. Worse yet, it's a matter of the fox guarding the hen house since the people running the program are also the people who are to make sure the program complies with and does not abuse the law. One of the two in charge to ensure this? Alberto Gonzales.

Glenn Greenwald wrote, "It is staggering, and truly disgusting, that even in August, 2007 -- almost six years removed from the 9/11 attacks and with the Bush presidency cemented as one of the weakest and most despised in American history -- that George W. Bush can 'demand' that the Congress jump and re-write legislation at his will." Jack Balkin wrote, "The passage of the new FISA bill by the Senate and now the House demonstrates that the Democrats stand neither for defending civil liberties nor for checking executive power....Conversely, the new bill shows that the Republican Party can get the Democrats to surrender almost any civil liberty-- indeed, to give the President just as much unchecked power as he might obtain under a Republican controlled Congress-- simply by playing the fear card repeatedly and without shame."

As horrifically bad as Bush's reign has been, it's not difficult to get mightily disgusted with the folks who serve as the alternative. A larger group of grubbing wet noodles would be hard to find.