The Nation: The Art of Compromise

The art of compromise, which is essential to democracy, seems to have gone out of style in recent years of angry all-or-nothing politics. Especially when the Congress is Democratic and the President is Republican, the result is often no legislation, and many issues are left to fade or fester. In an encouraging departure from that pattern, the Ford Administration and a mixed bag of Senators have reached agreement on one of the most sensitive issues of all: wiretapping U.S. citizens for national security purposes.

The proposed bill, which is to be presented to Congress...