A widely-seen ad pushes a White House-backed bill that would
make it easier for the government to wiretap Americans. It also
would give retroactive legal immunity to telecom companies that
cooperated with Bush's secret, post-9/11 warrantless wiretapping
program.   Specifically, the ad says that:  "The law" allowing
government eavesdroppers to intercept al Qaeda communications
has expired. But the main, 30-year-old law that lets them listen
in, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, is still on the
books. It's a law amending FISA, making it easier for
intelligence-gatherers to eavesdrop on communications that might
include Americans, that has expired.  "[T]he House refuses to
vote" to replace the lapsed law. Actually, the House passed its
own version of the legislation months ago. The House and Senate
are now in conference to resolve the differences in their bills,
which is the normal legislative process.  "[N]ew surveillance
against terrorists is crippled." The administration has admitted
that surveillanc