Nedra Pickler gets it right for once

Nedra Pickler of Associated Press has been a pretty reliable shill for the Bush Adminisation. But today, in an article about how Al Gore's speech on Monday is giving the Bushistas apoplexy, she explains why Alberto Gonzales' idiotic use of the "Buh...buh...buh CLINTON!!" meme is totally, dead wrong:

McClellan said the Clinton-Gore administration had engaged in warrantless physical searches, and he cited an FBI search of the home of CIA turncoat Aldrich Ames without permission from a judge. He said Clinton's deputy attorney general, Jamie Gorelick, had testified before Congress that the president had the inherent authority to engage in physical searches without warrants.

[snip]

But at the time of the Ames search in 1993 and when Gorelick testified a year later, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act required warrants for electronic surveillance for intelligence purposes, but did not cover physical searches. The law was changed to cover physical searches in 1995 under legislation that Clinton supported and signed.

Of course, the White House knows that most Americans won't dig that far, so I have no confidence that the "Clinton did it too!" meme won't stick. But that Gonzales' claim is either a lie or demonstrates breathtaking ignorance, it's just another example of how this Administration is NOT up to the task of keeping ANYONE safe -- except perhaps its own political future.