The Washington Post’s Carrie Johnson and Ellen Nakashima report that the Justice Dept. sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee saying (to paraphrase), “Renew the Patriot Act!” Congress must re-renew the Patriot Act (which became law in 2001 and was renewed four years later) in order to “allow investigators to monitor through roving wiretaps suspects who may be trying to escape detection by switching cellphone numbers, obtain business records of national security targets, and track “lone wolves” who may be acting alone on behalf of foreign powers or terrorist groups.”

I see two pretty profound issues involving the Patriot Act. One, which the Post deals with well, is if Patriot Act spying has violated civil liberties (yes) and if Congress can change the law to make this spying ethically and legally acceptable (maybe). The second question, which the Post doesn’t directly deal with, is whether the Patriot Act, and other domestic spying, has improved national security. George W. Bush always claimed it did, but Bush’s assertions seemed like defensive rebukes of civil libertarians. Barack Obama and AG Eric Holder have a fresh start — they should suffer no political penalty for being an honest broker with Congress about what spying can stay and what has to go. Obama, though, may be reluctant to give up any inherited executive powers that Bush created.

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