I mentioned in the post below the Andrew Cohen Atlantic interview with Jameel Jaffar and Brett Max Kaufman of the ACLU, but want to make sure that you are reading it.  It is a very clear and cohesive message of what citizens should not tolerate, and well as a steady-handed evisceration of people who think there is much daylight on this issue between George W. Bush and Barack Obama.    This last part, I think, is hugely important, but do read the whole thing.  (Disclosure: Brett is a good friend of mine.  I’d be interested in this anyway, but even more so when it is delivered so handsomely!)

Anything else you think is important?

In his recent speech at National Defense University, President Obama made a compelling case for the democratic necessity of bringing the nation’s wartime approach to terrorist threats to an end. That necessity applies with equal force in the context of domestic surveillance. Just as President Obama belatedly acknowledged the long-term consequences of short-sighted policies governing the use of drones and other lethal force abroad, there are creeping but grave consequences to a democracy that surrenders its liberties one phone call at a time. Nobody chooses to live in a surveillance state, but a malfunctioning democracy can produce one. Restoring constitutional dignities to their historically privileged role in our system is the best way to defend it.