While spinmeisters of wignuttery continue their attempts to rationalize Bush's spying on Americans, a judge who was named to the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court by the late conservative Chief Justice Rehnquist has quit his post in protest:

U.S. District Judge James Robertson, one of 11 members of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, sent a letter to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. late Monday notifying him of his resignation without providing an explanation.

Two associates familiar with his decision said yesterday that Robertson privately expressed deep concern that the warrantless surveillance program authorized by the president in 2001 was legally questionable and may have tainted the FISA court's work.

Some Republicans seem to be waking from their Kool-Ade haze:

Word of Robertson's resignation came as two Senate Republicans joined the call for congressional investigations into the National Security Agency's warrantless interception of telephone calls and e-mails to overseas locations by U.S. citizens suspected of links to terrorist groups. They questioned the legality of the operation and the extent to which the White House kept Congress informed.

Sens. Chuck Hagel (Neb.) and Olympia J. Snowe (Maine) echoed concerns raised by Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who has promised hearings in the new year.

Of course, some of the people in power are just happy as can be with the American government snooping into the private lives of American citizens.

"I am personally comfortable with everything I know about it," Acting House Majority Leader Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said in a phone interview.

Meanwhile, the FBI -- which has the actual legal charge and duty of domestic law enforcement -- has been spying on activist groups.

One F.B.I. document indicates that agents in Indianapolis planned to conduct surveillance as part of a "Vegan Community Project." Another document talks of the Catholic Workers group's "semi-communistic ideology." A third indicates the bureau's interest in determining the location of a protest over llama fur planned by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Yes, that's right: The "War on Terror" is being waged against American vegetarians, Catholic workers disenchanted with management, and llama lovers.

Ever give to Greenpeace? Then you're supporting terrorism, apparently.

In the case of Greenpeace, which is known for highly publicized acts of civil disobedience like the boarding of cargo ships to unfurl protest banners, the files indicate that the F.B.I. investigated possible financial ties between its members and militant groups like the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front.

These networks, which have no declared leaders and are only loosely organized, have been described by the F.B.I. in Congressional testimony as "extremist special interest groups" whose cells engage in violent or other illegal acts, making them "a serious domestic terrorist threat."

Disclosure: I gave to Greenpeace once. The resulting deluge of junk mail I received not just from Greenpeace but from the Sierra Club, WWF, National Geographic and countless others, all printed on dead trees and toxic plastics, made it pretty apparent that my little donation might have been counterproductive to the environment.

In closing for this post, I just want to send some love to the FBI and NSA agents reading this blog. Happy holidays to you all. Who loves ya, babe.

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