On Terrorist Wiretaps, Democrats’ Position Is Absurd and Untenable

• By David Winston
• Roll Call Contributing Writer
• Feb. 14, 2006, Midnight

It was a performance that only fans of the Theater of the Absurd could love. There they were: former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, singing chorus after chorus of “Helpless” as they explained to Tim Russert on “Meet the Press” that, yes, Democrats were briefed on many occasions about the National Security Agency foreign terrorist surveillance program, but they simply had no avenue open to them to express their deep concerns about its legality.