False Logic

What's wrong with this picture? Bush commits illegal acts - thinks it's okay, and then accuses the NYT's exposure of the illegalities as treasonous acts and of endangering American security.

Since October 2001, Bush has authorized (more than 30 times) the super-secret National Security Agency, without court-approved warrants, to eavesdrop on the international phone calls and e-mails of people inside the United States.

Bush on Saturday also attacked the disclosure. “As a result, our enemies have learned information they should not have,” Bush said in his weekly radio address. “The unauthorized disclosure of this effort damages our national security and puts our citizens at risk.” He's right, American citizens are at risk, but his continued disregard for the Consitiution and our laws is the reason. Seemingly petulant, disrespectful of others, posessing a dull non-inquisitive mind, and capable of being manipulated by others, he is extremely dangerous to this country.

Often appearing angry in his eight-minute radio address today, the president made clear he will not stop his illegal monitoring activities and said public disclosure of the program by the news media had endangered Americans. He accused the senators blocking the Patriot Act of being irresponsible.

James Bamford, author of two books on the NSA, said the program could be problematic because it bypasses a special court set up by the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to authorize eavesdropping on suspected terrorists. "I didn't hear him specify any legal right, except his right as president, which in a democracy doesn't make much sense....Today, what Bush said is he went around the law, which is a violation of the law — which is illegal."

Retired Adm. Bobby Inman, who led the NSA from 1977 to 1981, said Bush's authorization of the eavesdropping would have been justified in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks "because at that point you couldn't get a court warrant unless you could show probable cause.....Once the Patriot Act was in place, I am puzzled what was the need to continue outside the court."

Susan Low Bloch, a professor of constitutional law at Georgetown University Law Center, said Bush was "taking a hugely expansive interpretation of the Constitution and the president's powers under the Constitution. That view was echoed by congressional Democrats. "I tell you, he's President George Bush, not King George Bush. This is not the system of government we have and that we fought for," Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., told The Associated Press. Added Sen. Patrick Leahy D-Vt.: "The Bush administration seems to believe it is above the law."

So according to Bush, we should just trust him because he is doing what's best for America. This is the same guy whose top aides expose covert CIA agents, whose neocon controllers hyped the Iraq threat, whose friends and cronies pillage this country's resources, whose uncontrolled spending and extremely ill advised tax cuts for wealthy buddies are bankrupting our children, and whose incompetence has repeatedly failed to protect America. He wants us to trust him? Trust has to be earned – not demanded. Take a hike.
Posted on the Human Stain