As one who most would call a strong conservative I am totally taken aback by this action. It is an affront to everything we stand for. And to do it in able to catch drug felons (misdemeanorists?) is a joke. They can't even stop drug smuggling into prisons for G*d's sake. Bad, stupid, offensive stuff.
Pj, just to qualify. The wiretap procedure used in the original Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, signed by Carter and a Demo Congress if memory serves, used such technology as alligator clips on hard wires in phone boxes. The world of international phonecalls has changed light years since then. Back then Dick Tracy had a watch on his wrist he could make calls on!! Who knew! And we had a party phone line shared with 3 other families...There is no way that law in it's existing form would apply to a cell phone call today.
