Specter's "Compromise"

The STACLU folks are up in arms about Bush allegedly "caving in" and agreeing to FISA court oversight of the NSA's domestic spying programs. Arlen Specter announced that the White House has agreed to submit those programs to the FISA court for review of their constitutionality. STACLU's trenchant analysis of the situation:

Again, I'm still digesting this, but if Arlen Specter is happy about this it can't be much of a good thing. Some of us are wondering what happened to Bush's spine. This was an issue he was so stubborn on for so long. Why the sudden about face? It won't take long for the ACLU to applaud this decision followed by how many other things they still have to work on.

Oh my god, if Specter and the ACLU like it, it must be bad. But hold the phone, folks. As usual, what Specter says and what the White House say are two different things. Here's what Specter says:

"If the bill is not changed, the president will submit the Terrorist Surveillance Program to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court," Specter said. "That is the president's commitment."

And here's what the White House says:

An administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the bill's language gives the president the option of submitting the program to the intelligence court, rather than making the review a requirement.

The official said that Bush will submit to the court review as long the bill is not changed, adding that the legislation preserves the right of future presidents to skip the court review.

Here's what makes all of this quite ridiculous: President Bush doesn't need any legislation to submit to FISA court review. In fact, the law as currently written requires him to do so. This is Specter's idea of "getting tough" and making the President comply with what the law already says. We'll just have to wait and see what the bill actually says, of course, but it's completely unnecessary as it is. If Bush has agreed to submit to FISA review, he can do that right now, without any such legislation. That fact alone suggests that this is all a bunch of nonsense.

I predict that if there is such a bill and it passes, the President will sign it but with the following Presidential Signing Statement attached to it:

"Today I am signing the How to Make Arlen Specter Look Like an Even Bigger Ass Than He Is Act. Please note that while I signed this bill, I had my fingers crossed. Therefore, nothing in the bill is actually binding on the unitary executive and I'll continue to do what I damn well please."