No citizens have standing in this court

So, we can't challenge the NSA super secret spying program unless we can prove that we ourselves were spied upon, even if we can show that the possibility of being spied upon injured us.

APPEALS COURT ON WARRANTLESS-SEARCH CASE....Almost a year ago, U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor struck down the president's warrantless-domestic search program. "In this case, the President has acted, undisputedly, as FISA forbids. FISA is the expressed statutory policy of our Congress," Taylor wrote. "The presidential power, therefore, was exercised at its lowest ebb and cannot be sustained."

Today, in a 2-1 ruling, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the ruling and dismissed the lawsuit. The ruling wasn't based on the merits, but rather, whether the plaintiffs had standing to file suit.

The ACLU filed the lawsuit on behalf of journalists, scholars, and lawyers who argued the program made it difficult for them to do their jobs. They have international contacts they speak with regularly by phone, and these contacts are likely targets of Bush's NSA program.

To the two Republican-appointed judges on the 6th Circuit, it apparently didn't matter -- the ACLU's clients couldn't prove they'd been spied on, so they couldn't challenge the program.

Somehow, I have a very strong feeling that these same judges would have ruled differently if it had been a Democrat in the White House who had initiated the program. This, of course, means that Bush (or whomever) can do whatever he wants as long as he keeps it secret. Sort of tells you why Cheney & Co. has been so secretive, doesn't it?