House Minority Leader John Boehner says that “Because of the Democrats’ inaction, the Protect America Act expired last night at midnight, forcing our intelligence officials to revert to the same terror surveillance laws that failed to protect America from the al-Qaeda terrorist attack on 9/11.”

As Tim Lee points out this is just an extravagantly false claim. Back in October of 2001, President Bush gave a radio address about how “The bill I signed yesterday gives intelligence and law enforcement officials additional tools they need to hunt and capture and punish terrorists.” The FISA was revised again in 2002. Then FISA was revised again in 2004. Then FISA was revised again in 2006. Protect America Act aside, there have been four separate post-9/11 sets of modifications to the law in question. Most people don’t know this, fair enough. But Boehner’s been in congress throughout all of this — he voted on the revisions — and now he’s pretending they don’t exist.

Spencer Ackerman travels the world, assembling apropos anecdotes. For example, when he was in Mosul he saw a Provincial Reconstruction Team helping to oversee a terrorism trial and teach the Iraqis a thing or two about the rule of law:

Then at the end, as people are milling about and chatting on their way out the door, one of the PRT officials tells a judge how important it is to stand up against terrorism and promote equality and fairness before an impartial system of law. The judge nods at the platitude. “Tell me,” he says through a translator, “is it true that in America, Bush can fire prosecutors he doesn’t like?”

Let freedom ring.

It seems that contrary to the wishes of Kosovo’s Serbian minority, Serbia, and Russia Kosovo has declared independence from Serbia and various western countries will recognize their declaration. Given the status quo as it existed last week, this is the right thing to do, but that the situation reached the present impasse was a pretty serious failing. It seems likely that the main price will be paid by people in Georgia (former Soviet Georgia, that is) where Russia will retaliate by recognizing the independent of Abkhazia and possibly touching off some intensified conflict there.