"Domestic spying" is not what this NSA program is.

There are a lot of people up in arms about the "domestic spying" program, so let's just look at the bottom line here. Congress authorized the President, in 2001,

to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any further acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons.

So let us theorize that, just hypothetically, the CIA and/or NSA identify the phone of Osama bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahiri, and they start listening in as calls are placed to cells in Frankfort or Munich or Paris or London, planning anti-American attacks. Are we to suppose that, if the next call placed is to Brooklyn, the NSA can't listen to it because one end of the call is on American soil? Is that somehow a "domestic" call, and "domestic spying" for the NSA to listen in? Or that the executive branch would need the permission of a non-elected Judge to listen to that call?

Preposterous. Nonsensical. It's pure poppycock. We're not talking about "domestic spying," no matter how many times the press refers to it that way. These are all international calls that are being monitored, coming to the US from people that we have reason to suspect mean us ill. It is absolutely "terrorist surveillance" and not "domestic spying."