Judicial branch gets it's groove back

Glenn Greenwald is the go to guy for the progressive take on Judge Taylor's NSA decision. He takes a more tempered view than the NYT and admits the ruling in weak in some places but he sums up why this decision, along with with Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, bodes well for the health of our system of government.

Thus, judicial decisions are starting to emerge which come close to branding the conduct of Bush officials as criminal. FISA is a criminal law. The administration has been violating that law on purpose, with no good excuse. Government officials who violate the criminal law deserve to be -- and are required to be -- held accountable just like any other citizens who violate the law. That is a basic, and critically important, principle in our system of government. These are not abstract legalistic questions being decided. They amount to rulings that our highest government officials have been systematically breaking the law -- criminal laws -- in numerous ways. And no country which lives under the rule of law can allow that to happen with impunity.

Since the Congress has failed dismally in upholding their end of checks and balances on executive power run amok, it's heartening to see the judiciary taking their role seriously, no matter how it ultimately turns out as these matters wend their way through the long process of appeals. Be sure to also read Glenn's initial analysis and the roundup of right wing blogs' personal smears on the honorable judge. As always, when they can't defend the illegal acts of the president, they resort to their long time tactic of attacking the messenger.