Bork To The Future.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)

Supreme Court: With his confirmation hearing set for Monday, liberals are out to slime Samuel Alito, digging up ancient memos to prove he is out of the mainstream. The memos and his record prove just the opposite.

The latest "gotcha" in the campaign to stop Alito is a 1984 memo written by the Supreme Court nominee when he worked for Rex Lee, solicitor general in the Reagan Justice Department. It suggests the attorney general should have immunity from lawsuits authorized to uncover terrorist plots.

Sen. Ted Kennedy harrumphed: "At a time when the nation is faced with revelations that the administration has been wiretapping American citizens, we find that we have a nominee who believes that officials who order warrantless wiretaps of Americans should be immune from legal accountability."

Alito was merely endorsing wiretaps such as one based on FBI information regarding a 1970s plot to destroy utility tunnels in Washington and kidnap Henry Kissinger, then national security adviser.

In the memo, Alito backed the government's position in a lawsuit against Atty. Gen. John Mitchell, who had authorized the wiretap. The suit had wound through the courts for years, finally reaching the U.S. Supreme Court in 1984.

The connection between what Alito was talking about then and what President Bush has authorized now is tenuous at best. Bush has authorized the National Security Agency to monitor only international e-mails and phone calls between suspected terrorists overseas and people residing in the U.S. This is something every president since Jimmy Carter has authorized by executive order.

That warrants are not necessary to intercept and monitor the communications of America's enemies was made clear by the Supreme Court in a 1972 case and by federal courts of appeals for the 5th, 3rd, 9th and 4th circuits in cases ...