Pelosi's stunts

For the second recent time, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has sent the Senate on vacation for two weeks without permitting a vote on a bill that would restore critical surveillance authority to US intelligence agencies. The Senate bill enjoyed broad bipartisan support and would have easily passed the House if she would have allowed the vote. Obviously stung by criticism the first time she pulled this stunt, she attempted to camouflage her dereliction of duty this time by offering an alternative proposal that was so deeply flawed that it would have been D.O.A. in the Senate. Her alternate bill denies US telecommunications companies the liability protection they need, perefectly in step with the interest of the trial lawyers, lavish supporters of the Democrats. In Pelosi's world, if an overseas terrorist calls another terrorist to coordinate an operation against US troops, our intelligence agencies should not be permitted to monitor their conversations unless a judge in Washington is convinced the courtroom standard of "probable cause" has been met. No matter that FISA was specifically designed to permit the monitoring of non-Americans overseas without restrictions, Pelosi has decided that aliens have Fourth Amendment rights (like all Americans) and they need worldwide privacy protections against eavesdropping. By tying the hands of our intelligence agencies, she weakens our country's defenses and makes us more vulnerable to attack. Her loyalties lie with protecting the interests of the trial lawyer lobby. How many more days will she delay the vote and allow terrorists to plot, plan, and organize without fear of detection?