Put him in jail

This headline from the Christian Science Monitor says it all.

'Bush allowed spying on Americans in US after 9/11
Presidential order authorized NSA to eavesdrop without court warrants.'

Georgie refused to confirm or deny the claims, but said he always upheld the law and protected civil liberties. "I will make this point. That whatever I do to protect the American people, and I have an obligation to do so, that we will uphold the law, and decisions made are made understanding we have an obligation to protect the civil liberties of the American people."

Does anyone believe him? He has proven to be untrustworthy. He has proven to have lied to the American people. He is continually being proven to be unfit for the job. He is now being shown to have committed criminal acts. America now has a criminal as President.

Asked about this on NBC's "Today" show, Condoleeza Rice said, "I'm not going to comment on intelligence matters." Attorney General Gonzales refused to confirm that the NSA listens in on Americans or whether he played any role in providing legal justification for the program.

Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies, said the secret order may mean the president authorized criminal activity. The law governing clandestine surveillance in the United States, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, prohibits conducting electronic surveillance not authorized by statute. A government agent can try to avoid prosecution if he can show he was "engaged in the course of his official duties and the electronic surveillance was authorized by and conducted pursuant to a search warrant or court order from a court of competent jurisdiction." "This is the first time a president has authorized government agencies to violate a specific criminal prohibition and eavesdrop on Americans."

American law requires a secret court, known as a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, to give permission before intelligence officers can conduct surveillance on US soil.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said eavesdropping in the US without a court order and without complying with the procedures of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was "both illegal and unconstitutional". Caroline Fredrickson, director of the Washington legislative office of the American Civil Liberties Union, said "It's clear that the administration has been very willing to sacrifice civil liberties in its effort to exercise its authority on terrorism, to the extent that it authorizes criminal activity...The administration is claiming extraordinary presidential powers at the expense of civil liberties and is putting the president above the law."

The US Senate must investigate this matter and make it their highest priority. American liberties are shrinking away - will we let it happen without a whimper?
Posted on The Human Stain