Senator Barbara Mikulski's (D-MD) release today,
Mikulski Calls for Immediate Intelligence Hearings into Secret NSA Spying contained a rather short yet to the point one liner-
"The President seems to have admitted that he secretly eliminated this entire legal process."
More below the fold-
Now by no means am I saying Senator Mikulski has always come out to where I do in these matters, but considering who she is and where she's coming from, I think this is a pretty interesting development, certainly a very different tone from this
earlier release, in which she speaks to being a cosponsor of the Intelligence Reform Bill.
(For a brief summary of some of the concerns expressed about the legislation at the time, see for example, this from the ACLU.)
It appears that she, despite having been a key supporter of measures that originally centralized the intelligence community's surveillance powers, might be starting to wonder just what it was they passed, or at least the implementation thereof.
Now if even supporters like Senator Mikulski are beginning to question, or (dare we hope) even beginning to come around to the effects of that which she worked diligently for, maybe, just maybe at least a small change is in the air.
If this process of being confronted with the actual effects of her own actions has led her to a stance wherein she demands an investigation, one can only wonder what other previous supporters of this administration who worked to authorize the expansion of some powers (not necessarily THESE powers, per se) will be contemplating as they lie in their beds tonight.
That said, her final question;
Are there any other secret orders relating to spying on U.S. citizens?
is exactly what is vital now to even begin to access what damage has already been done, as right now, we don't even know the scope of what we don't know.
Personally, I'm not very hopeful, and it is after all, long after the proverbial cow has left the barn.
Still, keep in mind, Senator Mikulski sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee and apparently has had ongoing unanswered to her satisfaction concerns pertaining to the legislation she and others worked to enact.
I don't believe there has been a fundamental shift in her outlook, just grave concerns over the practical application. She's not looking to smash the mousetrap we citizens are trapped in- she's still seeking to build one that only catches certain mice, the 'bad mice'; an impossible task as 'innocent bystander mice' are awfully hard to separate out once the trap has been built.
As a final note, the NSA headquarters are of course, here in Maryland, not far off the route Senator Mikulski likely takes between Baltimore and Washington. One can only hope it becomes a symbol and persistent reminder of the genuine, real world effects and suffering everyday citizens now endure thanks to such legislative "best intentions".