Rampant waste of human protoplasm Sen. Rand Paul says he is going to fight the NSA’s surveillance programs with a Supreme Court challenge. He wants internet providers and phone companies and anybody else who feels so moved to join a class action lawsuit to challenge the programs on constitutional grounds.

Whether corporations would want to join such a lawsuit is an open question. Whether the current SCOTUS would find the programs unconstitutional is a coin toss. And who knows how long this effort would take?

What I do know is that Congress — y’know, Senator, that place where I assume you show up for work sometimes — could shut the whole mess down right now by revising or rescinding the Patriot Act. And y’all could take back some of your constitutional war powers while you’re at it. There’s a lad.