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Ruling against Bush wiretaps also slaps down Obama's executive overreach
Wednesday's landmark court ruling that the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance program was flatly illegal is, unfortunately, not only of historical significance.
The program, after all, continues to this day, in a somewhat modified but still arguably unconstitutional manner -- and hasn't always stayed even within those parameters.
But even more importantly, the ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn R. Walker angrily rejected the Obama administration's attempts to get the case dismissed on the basis of a "state secrets" privilege. That assertion was first made by Bush administration lawyers, but was enthusiastically re-asserted by President Obama's Justice Department.
For that reason, the ruling should serve as a wake-up call to those who thought that the days of executive overreach were behind us -- and as a red alert to all who care about the separation of powers.