Let's give props to Rep. Heather Wilson

Who says I never praise Republicans? In the aftermath of Karl Rove's threat to "blacklist" any Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee who DARES to vote against Bush's domestic spying policy, Heather Wilson's courage in breaking ranks from the totalitarian White House and coming forward against this program deserves our applause:

A House Republican whose subcommittee oversees the National Security Agency broke ranks with the White House on Tuesday and called for a full Congressional inquiry into the Bush administration's domestic eavesdropping program.

The lawmaker, Representative Heather A. Wilson of New Mexico, chairwoman of the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Technical and Tactical Intelligence, said in an interview that she had "serious concerns" about the surveillance program. By withholding information about its operations from many lawmakers, she said, the administration has deepened her apprehension about whom the agency is monitoring and why.

Ms. Wilson, who was a National Security Council aide in the administration of President Bush's father, is the first Republican on either the House's Intelligence Committee or the Senate's to call for a full Congressional investigation into the program, in which the N.S.A. has been eavesdropping without warrants on the international communications of people inside the United States believed to have links with terrorists.

The congresswoman's discomfort with the operation appears to reflect deepening fissures among Republicans over the program's legal basis and political liabilities. Many Republicans have strongly backed President Bush's power to use every tool at his disposal to fight terrorism, but 4 of the 10 Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee voiced concerns about the program at a hearing where Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales testified on Monday.

Ms. Wilson said in the interview Tuesday that she considered the limited Congressional briefings to be "increasingly untenable" because they left most lawmakers knowing little about the program. She said the House Intelligence Committee needed to conduct a "painstaking" review, including not only classified briefings but also access to internal documents and staff interviews with N.S.A. aides and intelligence officials.

Ms. Wilson, a former Air Force officer who is the only female veteran currently in Congress, has butted up against the administration previously over controversial policy issues, including Medicare and troop strength in Iraq. She said she realized that publicizing her concerns over the surveillance program could harm her relations with the administration. "The president has his duty to do, but I have mine too, and I feel strongly about that," she said.

Amazing....a Republican who puts the obligations of her oath and her duty to the American people and the U.S. Constitution ahead of loyalty to the thugs in the White House who are of the same party. And how sad is it that this is amazing?

UPDATE: Rachel Maddow is reporting that Heather Wilson is battling a strong challenge in her district by a Democratic opponent, and also that Wilson knows such hearings will never take place, because Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Michigan) has already told her that as Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, he will not hold such hearings.

Still....even if it's a craven political move, to the average "drive-by news" American, it's still a Republican calling for hearings. And if a challenge by a Democratic opponent gets a Republican to do the right thing, I'll take it.