NSA Hearing

It appears to me that yesterday's hearing didn't accomplish much unless you're a politician trying to get face time in front of a camera. Even that didn't pan out very well for Senators Kennedy and Durbin, who found pajama-clad journalist Paul Mirengoff from Powerline to be an unexpected surprise. Thumbs up to Paul!

Enjoy it while you can, though. Many liberal politicians routinely avoid reporters from Fox News. I expect most bloggers, especially those associated with sleepwear, to be treated in a similar fashion soon enough.

- Back to the hearings. Future hearings will be non-productive as well. Republicans who believe the President acted within the law are unlikely to change many minds.

Democrats in congress, by and large, also believe that the President acted lawfully. Before you argue, please recall that not one has asked that the program be stopped, and don't forget that several leading Democrats were briefed regularly on the program but raised no fuss until the NYT story gave them a political windfall.

The damage isn't going to be critical, though, as long as the Democrats continue to blunt the attack with their own stupidity. Dems who are helping the Republicans fall into two categories - the first being the aforementioned Dems who were briefed regularly but didn't raise a fuss or ask that the program be discontinued. This stands in stark contrast to the sudden breathless assertions that the President broke the law. Even if the MSM hasn't highlighted the anomoly, lots of the public have noticed.

The other category of Democrats are in far greater abundance - these are the ones who complain they weren't briefed, and yet still contend they have enough information to declare "Bush Broke The Law!" in no uncertain terms. If you want quality partisan hackery, look no further. Working from the Howard Dean book of schizophrenic politics should have consequences. If they're so sure that the program is illegal, let them argue it in court. Without discovery. After all, "Bush broke the law".

And while we're at it, why have hearings at all? If Kennedy and Durbin already know the answers, why would they need to ask questions?

Hearings aside, the NSA thing will continue to be difficult for the Republicans. This is for two reasons:

1. The issue involves complex legal concepts not easy for the public to understand, and some of it falls into murky gaps and overlaps of law. And none of the President's or AG's explanations make for good sound bites.

2. Unfortunately, the whole darn thing is classified. This has made the explanations from the right seem strained and easy for the left to paint as evasive.

No, hearings aren't the answer here. The only way to put this matter to bed is to have a court decide - and soon.