Since 9/11 the Bush administration has used the war on terror as an excuse to overstep constitutional boundaries, spy on citizens, and grab power. Their insistence on maintaining an all-important veil of secrecy has enabled them to trample on the bill of rights and has rendered the judicial and legislative branches lifeless. Fortunately, on Thursday Congress took one small but important step toward slowing Bush's rapid ascent to the throne. The New York Times reported that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has been granted some power to oversee the NSA's eavesdropping program.

The White House has agreed to allow limited judicial review of the eavesdropping program run by the National Security Agency, Senator Arlen Specter, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and a White House spokeswoman said today.