A small post-mortem for the fourth amendment to the Constitution, which was thoroughly nullified yesterday with the House’s approval of H.R. 6304, the FISA Amendments Act:

Pete Visclosky, a Democrat who represents the first congressional district of Indiana, was not able to make it to Capitol Hill for the vote on H.R. 6304. He has, however, registered an official statement in the congressional record that if he had been able to be present for the vote, he would have voted against the bill.

Part of me wonders why Congressman Visclosky couldn’t be there for such an important vote. However, I know that his vote against would not have made the difference on its own. So, I give some small measure of thanks to Representative Visclosky for at least not joining the stampede of panicky Democrats who sold the Constitution down the river just for the sake of a talking point on the campaign trail.