Despite an eleventh hour attempt by Dems to erase the telecom immunity language from the legislation that will overhaul the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the bill breezed through the Senate today in a 69-28 vote, putting to bed the lightning rod issue.

As the WSJ reports, the bill renews the legal backing for the federal government's warrantless surveillance program, allowing the National Security Agency to listen in to Americans' phone calls to people abroad and read emails sent to people overseas. It would also...