Are you fucking kidding me?!

I don't know why I even bother to get my hopes up that maybe, just maybe, this time there will be some sort of negative result to this administration's actions. Well, negative for them. The negative results for us just keep pouring in.

Congress appeared ready to launch an investigation into the Bush administration's warrantless domestic surveillance program last week, but an all-out White House lobbying campaign has dramatically slowed the effort and may kill it, key Republican and Democratic sources said yesterday.
-snip-
In an interview yesterday, Snowe [R-Maine] said, "I'm not sure it's going to be essential or necessary" to conduct an inquiry "if we can address the legislative standpoint" that would provide oversight of the surveillance program. "We're learning a lot and we're going to learn more," she said.
-snip-
"The administration has obviously gotten the message that they need to be more forthcoming," Snowe said.

At least my boy Rockefeller (D-WV) is still pissed (he's drafted a motion calling for an inquiry into the whole mess):

Sources close to Rockefeller say he is frustrated by what he sees as heavy-handed White House efforts to dissuade Republicans from supporting his measure. They noted that Cheney conducted a Republicans-only meeting on intelligence matters in the Capitol yesterday.

Meanwhile,

Senate intelligence committee member Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) said in an interview that he supports the NSA program and would oppose a congressional investigation. He said he is drafting legislation that would "specifically authorize this program" by excluding it from the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which established a secret court to consider government requests for wiretap warrants in anti-terrorist investigations.

So, just to re-cap, the NSA, under the direction of the Bush administration and with the A.G. claiming it's legal, potentially violated the Constitution, and it's not even worth looking into?! As long as they're mildly inconvenienced by dragging a few key players up to the hill for an empty gesture hearing and legislation is passed to make it retroactively legal, everything is ok? And a good PR campaign is more effective than, oh I don't know, researching the facts, maybe spending some time and energy thinking about the legal, constitutional, and social issues at hand? Wow, I am so glad that's been made clear because silly me was still doddering around with this illusion of the power of the Constitution and the law of the land and the responsibilities of elected officials. Motherfuckers! I don't want to be this cynical about my country, but when you have this sort of homegrown fascism, what's the point of patriotic pride?