I, Spy
This has been lost in the shouting match between Congress and President Bush over the war in Iraq but I feel it deserves some attention.
President Bush is a criminal. For over five years he broke the law. It's that simple. Every time he reauthorization his warrantless wiretapping program he was committing a felony. Even after it was discovered, he continued. The only reason he was not immediately impeached and rendered to authorities is because he was able to fearmonger enough people into questioning whether or not he had in fact committed a crime. Having a compliant Republican Congress fully willing to cover-up his actions didn't hurt either.
But now the Bushies are scared. The Democrats control Congress and are not shy about exercising their oversight authority, as the numerous hearings on Capitol Hill demonstrate. So the Bushies are hoping that while everyone's attention is on Iraq, they can scare up enough votes to absolve themselves of criminality.
My friend The Heretik has the highlights of Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell's trip before the Senate Intelligence Committee where he cryptically argues that Bush still has the power to authorize warrantless surveillance and yet at the same time they are seeking to amend FISA to allow what they already claim authority to be able to do. Needless to say the panel members remain skeptical, as well they should.
As the NY Times opines: "Mr. Bush long ago lost all credibility in the area where this law lies: at the fulcrum of the balance between national security and civil liberties."
It's long past time we balanced the scale to give due concern to both.
Update: Meme roundup.
(Filed at State of the Day)
President Bush is a criminal. For over five years he broke the law. It's that simple. Every time he reauthorization his warrantless wiretapping program he was committing a felony. Even after it was discovered, he continued. The only reason he was not immediately impeached and rendered to authorities is because he was able to fearmonger enough people into questioning whether or not he had in fact committed a crime. Having a compliant Republican Congress fully willing to cover-up his actions didn't hurt either.
But now the Bushies are scared. The Democrats control Congress and are not shy about exercising their oversight authority, as the numerous hearings on Capitol Hill demonstrate. So the Bushies are hoping that while everyone's attention is on Iraq, they can scare up enough votes to absolve themselves of criminality.
My friend The Heretik has the highlights of Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell's trip before the Senate Intelligence Committee where he cryptically argues that Bush still has the power to authorize warrantless surveillance and yet at the same time they are seeking to amend FISA to allow what they already claim authority to be able to do. Needless to say the panel members remain skeptical, as well they should.
As the NY Times opines: "Mr. Bush long ago lost all credibility in the area where this law lies: at the fulcrum of the balance between national security and civil liberties."
It's long past time we balanced the scale to give due concern to both.
Update: Meme roundup.
(Filed at State of the Day)
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