Update [2006-10-24 13:20:49 by Tom Ball]: It's clear that this story must receive maximum exposure, so I've brought it back to the top for another go at the world.

It's been clear from the beginning that the warentless wiretaps aren't needed because the FISA court was already set up to allow instant access to any possible "known terrorist."  So we already knew that the wiretaps were more about grabbing power than stopping terrorists.

But here's something you might not have realized.  The wiretaps themselves are worthless.