More Cotton Candy from Specter on Bush Spy Program

In an Op-Ed in today's Washington Post (registration required), Arlen Specter defends his proposed compromise legislation on the Administration's illegal domestic spying program. The piece is the cotton-candy Specter we've all come to know -- it looks good, but melts in the heat of battle.

He starts out making the right sounds, to give moderates and know-knothings the false impression he is being tough on the administration:

President Bush's electronic surveillance program has been a festering sore on our body politic since it was publicly disclosed last December. Civil libertarians, myself included, have insisted that the program must be subject to judicial review to ensure compliance with the Fourth Amendment.

But, where the rubber meets the road, Specter caves to BushCo:

The president has insisted that he was acting lawfully within his constitutional responsibilities. On its face, the program seems contrary to the plain text of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which regulates domestic national security wiretapping. The president argues, however, that his inherent constitutional powers supersede the statute. Without knowing the exact contours of the program, it's impossible to say whether he is right or wrong. But three federal appeals court decisions suggest the president may be right.

To his critics, including the Washington Post, who say it isn't a compromise but (yet another) capitulation by Specter, he wants to know if they have a better idea:

If someone has a better idea for legislation that would resolve the program's legality or can negotiate a better compromise with the president, I will be glad to listen.

Here's an idea Specter -- grow a set.