The case for impeachment gets stronger.

The Congressional Research Service has issued a report that says that President Bush's arguements for allowing the NSA to spy on Americans were illegal and broke the FISA laws.

A report by Congress's research arm concluded yesterday that the administration's justification for the warrantless eavesdropping authorized by President Bush conflicts with existing law and hinges on weak legal arguments.

The Congressional Research Service's report rebuts the central assertions made recently by Bush and Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales about the president's authority to order secret intercepts of telephone and e-mail exchanges between people inside the United States and their contacts abroad.

This is an independent non-partisan agency publishing this report. What does the Bush administration say?

Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said the president and the administration believe the program is on firm legal footing. "The national security activities described by the president were conducted in accord with the law and provide a critical tool in the war on terror that saves lives and protects civil liberties at the same time," he said. A spokesman for the National Security Agency was not available for a comment yesterday.

Other administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the CRS reached some erroneous legal conclusions, erring on the side of a narrow interpretation of what constitutes military force and when the president can exercise his war powers.

Bush has said that he has broad powers in times of war and must exercise them to target not only "enemies across the world" but also "terrorists here at home." The administration has argued, starting in 2002 briefs to the FISA court, that the "war on terror" is global and indefinite, effectively removing the limits of wartime authority -- traditionally the times and places of imminent or actual battle.

Then why wasn't FISA amended to accomodate those changes in warfare??? And more importantly, who was being watched?? And why didn't the Bush administration think it couldn't get the warrants to do the eavesdropping. But this doesn't matter to bullshit-flavored kool-aid drinkers. They feel safer giving up a little bit of their liberty for security. So Mr Kool-aid drinker, would you feel safer with a President Hilary Clinton or a President John Kerry with this power to bypass the FISA and spy on Americans without a warrant????