Scared Democrats allowed approval of bill that attacks privacy rights - Oak Ridger:Six years after the trauma of Sept. 11, ... it’s fair to expect that our federal representatives would have figured out how to balance their legitimate fears with some passing concern for the Constitution, in particular the standards of privacy, due process and oversight. Evidently not.

Acting with efficiency rarely seen in Washington, Democrats and Republicans colluded on a bill that allows the administration, on its own authority, to monitor e-mails and telephone calls between Americans and foreign addresses, as long as the “target” of the surveillance is the party outside the country. It’s a cavalier use of legislative power, especially given the record of this administration. ...

So why would a Congress under Democratic control trust a president whose assurances about the prudent use of power have never proven reliable? Here’s why: They were afraid. Enough Democrats were worried about being labeled soft on terrorism that, in the hours before the August recess, they allowed the administration to bully them into granting excessive and unnecessary power. ...

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