I just thought the additional paragraph was interesting.

I personally don't put much faith in a briefing as being indicative of everything being fine with the program. Recall Tufte's comments on [link|http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0001yB&topic_id=1&topic=Ask+E%2eT%2e|Columbia], and Lincoln's on [link|http://norvig.com/Gettysburg/sld001.htm|Gettysburg]. Briefings are often designed to obscure more than they reveal.

I'm sure that the vast majority of the people working on the program are doing everything they can to insure that civil liberties are protected. But without proper oversight by Congress (meaning the ability to hold hearings, investigations, issue subpoenas, publish reports, etc.), we can't know if there are some who are doing things they shouldn't.

My bottom line: Congress must serve as a check on the Executive no matter who s/he is.

My $0.02.

Cheers,
Scott.