There's criticism today from an American-Islamic group of the way a couple of Illinois Democrats voted in Congress last week on President Bush's proposal to allow the federal government to more easily wiretap phone calls and e-mails without a judge's warrant.

A prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group today announced the filing of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for all government records relating to President Bush's post-9/11 executive orders authorizing electronic surveillance of Americans and others in the United States without first obtaining court approval, as required by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

Civil liberties and Muslim groups criticized Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on Thursday for suggesting that authorities should spend more time monitoring mosques and their attendees, possibly with wiretaps.