I think that Paul Glastis hits one out of the park with a post that basically says even if we accept the notion that the NSA wiretap program is legal and above board how do we know if it actually works or whether or not its even being competently managed?  Does it make sense to trust the government with such powers when only executive branch lawyers and officials beholden to this Administration are monitoring and approving what what's happening?  In fact, what results do we have so far, no noticeable uptick in arrests of terrorist suspects in the United States and a bunch of FBI agents bitching about being flooded with thousands of worthless tips? 

If you do agree that this program is essential to national security wouldn't you want to make sure its better managed than say the Iraq war, Hurricane Katrina relief, Medicare D, the federal budget, or just about anything else the Bush people have royally screwed up over the past five years?  If you agree that this program is essential to national security, wouldn't you want more than an NSA shift supervisor or a lower level justice department political appointee making most of the decissions overseeing things?  What's so scary about having somebody outside the executive branch monitoring this, anyways?