Thursday

The Patriot Act cleared a major hurdle Thursday that ensures it will be renewed soon.

The Senate voted 96-3 to move toward final passage of new civil liberties protections to the Patriot Act, which the White House negotiated with a handful of Republicans.

Some Democrats remain convinced that the post-Sept. 11, 2001, anti-terrorism law gives the federal government too much power to intrude into the lives of innocent Americans. It is set to expire next month unless it is renewed.

But Thursday's vote clears the way for final congressional approval, which seems assured once Congress returns after next week's Presidents Day recess.

The Patriot Act bill would renew most provisions. Last year, the Senate blocked renewal after Democrats and a few Republicans argued that more protections were needed against government intrusion.

"A few Republicans" = enough Republicans to sustain a filibuster after they found out about the NSA wiretaps.

The House approved a bill that would have extended most of them permanently, but a filibuster after the bill reached the Senate stopped the measure from moving forward.

Republican leaders tried to break the filibuster Friday, but could muster only 52 of the necessary 60 votes. Four Republicans crossed party lines to oppose the extension.

That vote came on the same day that The New York Times reported that President Bush authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on U.S. residents, without warrants.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, cited the newspaper report as the reason he opposed permanently renewing the Patriot Act provisions, and Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pennsylvania, called the newspaper's revelation "devastating" to the renewal effort.

Well, we've decided not to make a fuss about that. Democrats in the Senate, with remarkable unanimity, have voted to make sure that that the Patriot Act will be renewed, much of it permanently. Of course, they were dealing with a certain amount of peer pressure

The legislation accepted Friday by Speaker Dennis Hastert would expand the powers of federal agents in investigations of suspected terrorists in the United States. That, President George W. Bush's administration says, is one of the key weapons in the fight against terror.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid also indicated he will vote for the bill. Voting on the bill could be scheduled as early as next week.

The honeymoon lasted two days.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said President George W. Bush didn't need court approval when he authorized a National Security Agency surveillance program, and that the U.S. law establishing a special court to review national security wiretap requests doesn't need to be changed.

``I don't think that it does need to be rewritten,'' Frist, a Tennessee Republican, said about the 1978 law on CBS's ``Face the Nation.'' When asked if the NSA program, which conducts surveillance without warrants, should be reviewed by the court, he said, ``I personally don't think so.''

Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, has introduced legislation that would require the Foreign Intelligence Security Act court to examine the NSA surveillance.

While the New York Times reported yesterday that Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts also supports court review of the wiretapping, Senator Saxby Chambliss, a panel member, questioned that today.

``I'm not sure that's exactly what Pat meant,'' said Chambliss, a Georgia Republican, on CNN's ``Late Edition.''

Oh wait, I tell a lie.

One day

PRESENTED WITH A RARE opportunity to act like a separate branch of government rather than an arm of the Bush administration, the Senate on Thursday caved like an overexcited spelunker. Though opposition to the Patriot Act's appalling intrusions on Americans' privacy had briefly united liberals with a handful of independent-minded conservatives, the opportunity to make meaningful revisions is over.

The Senate voted 96 to 3 to limit debate on the revised act, squelching the effort by Sen. Russell D. Feingold (D-Wis.) to mount a filibuster. A vote is slated for March 1. Passage is all but certain in the House.

Four Republican senators who in December had stood up with Democrats to block an extension of the act now say they're satisfied with a compromise reached with the administration. It's hard to see why; it's unclear whether any of the concessions will do anything to protect Americans from having their personal records scanned by government agents, regardless of whether those being probed are legitimate terrorism suspects.

That last from the editorial page of the LA Times, a paper that recently hired Jonah Goldberg to represent them on the OpEd page.

Sure do hope they're magic beans. I miss the cow already.

Mr. Lamont is, I believe, accepting contributions, as are Mr. Rodriguez and Ms. Busby