By the Numbers

Kevin Drum cited a couple of interesting poll results yesterday. The first was a Wall Street Journal/NBC poll (careful, it's a PDF) that (in addition to pegging the Prez with 37 percent disapproval--a new low for this poll) showed 52-46 percent support for the secret NSA spy program. That's not a huge majority, but it indicates that progressives haven't framed the issue properly. The question gauged support of "Using wiretaps to listen to telephone calls between suspected terrorists in other countries and American citizens in the United States without getting a court order to do so." If eavesdropping without a warrant were the only way to listen to these conversations, you could make an argument to support the action, but we know that isn't the full story. There are procedures in place that allow the Bush administration to get the surveillance and follow the law at the same time, and Bush is actively flouting them.

To return to the ever-popular metaphor of robbing a bank, this is the same as if I had $1,000 dollars in the bank and needed to get $500 of it quickly. Sure, I might have withdrawal slips or checks, but if I don't like to bother with paperwork, I might get a gun and rob the bank for $500. I wouldn't be taking anything that didn't already belong to me, but because we're a nation of laws (or so we were told several years ago), I can't withdraw my money that way. I'd be breaking the law. How is conducting surveillance on American citizens in defiance of the FISA court--which would certainly approve any warrant to spy on suspected overseas terrorists--any different?

The second poll Drum pointed out came from the American Research Group. They found that a plurality of respondents supported censure of the President for that NSA activity. Among all adults, the margin was close at 46-44 (with 10 percent undecided), but in a surprise (to me, at least), the margin widened when the pool was restricted to voters, with 48-43 (9 percent undecided) in support. This just highlights the cowardly behavior of Senate Democrats even further. While this issue obviously isn't an overwhelming winner, it's clearly one on which they could hold their own. For them to hide behind their desks and not even acknowledge it is not only spineless, it can't even be justified as effective pandering.