Hallelujah!

"Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the senior Republican on the Judiciary Committee, believes the White House has gone too far in invoking state secrets to halt civil lawsuits... Specter, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and others are working on legislation that would direct federal judges to review the president's state secrets claims and allow cases with merit to go forward."
Congress, Courts Examine 'State Secrets'
Nov 26, 2007 By PAMELA HESS, AP
[State Secrets]

The "state secrets" doctrine, first asserted during height of Cold War & post-WWII Red Scare hysteria, is in desperate need of review. If judges simply accept Executive's claim without examining specifics case-by-case, the doctrine gives the Executive carte blanche to do anything without accountability.

In such ways are police states created.

Coupled with W Administration's claim of virtually unlimited "inherent" Presidential powers - somehow gleaned from Article II's designation of President as "commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States " - the "state secrets" doctrine establishes an unchecked, unlimited Executive.

Hurray for Arlen Specter!

Stop the madness.