Crimes and Misdemeanors

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/18/05 at 5:43pm

Will "Spying on Americans" be Bush's Watergate?

Trashing civil liberties is something EVERYONE can hate Bush for: Pro-Civil-Rights Democrats, Anti-Big-Government Republicans and Freedom-Loving Libertarians.

Editorials from the NY Times:

President Bush defended the program yesterday, saying it was saving lives, hotly insisting that he was working within the Constitution and the law, and denouncing The Times for disclosing the program's existence. We don't know if he was right on the first count; this White House has cried wolf so many times on the urgency of national security threats that it has lost all credibility. But we have learned the hard way that Mr. Bush's team cannot be trusted to find the boundaries of the law, much less respect them."

And The Washington Post:

"As with its infamous torture memorandum, the administration appears to have taken the position that the president is entitled to ignore a clearly worded criminal law when it proves inconvenient in the war on terrorism. That argument is not as outlandish in the case of FISA as it is with respect to the torture laws, since administrations of both parties have always insisted on the executive's inherent power to conduct national security surveillance. Still, FISA has been the law of the land for 2 1/2 decades. To disrupt it so fundamentally, in total secret and without seeking legislative authorization, shows a profound disregard for Congress and the laws it passes."

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/19/05 at 12:41am

A compendium of editorials from across the country, from the Huffington Post:

Kansas City Star:
"The Struggle With Foreign Enemies Does Not Simply Give Him A Blank Check"

Denver Post:
The Administration Has Lost the "Balance Between Essential Anti-Terrorism Tools And Encroachment On Liberties"...

LA Times:
"Stunning," "One Of The More Egregious Cases Of Governmental Overreach"...

Washington Post:
"The Tools Of Foreign Intelligence Are Not Consistent With A Democratic Society"...

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
"Unacceptable Actions Of A Police State"...

St. Petersburg Times:
"So Dangerously Ill-Conceived And Contrary To This Nation's Guiding Principles"...

NY Times:
Bush "Secretly And Recklessly Expanded The Government's Powers In Dangerous And Unnecessary Ways"...

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/19/05 at 10:06am

December 17, 2005

The Honorable J. Dennis Hastert
Speaker
United States House of Representatives
H 232 The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Mr. Speaker:

In his radio address of December 17, President Bush disclosed that, after September 11, 2001, he authorized the National Security Agency (NSA) to undertake certain unnamed activities designed to prevent additional terrorist attacks. The President argued his action was "fully consistent with my constitutional responsibilities and authorities."

An article in the December 16 issue of the New York Times, "Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts" has led to the inevitable conclusion that the President was referring to an authorization to allow the NSA to conduct warrantless electronic surveillance of U.S. persons.

Regardless of whether that is true, we believe that the President's statements on the 17th, and the justifiable concern of the American people over the allegations in the Times article, require the House of Representatives to take steps immediately to conduct hearings on the scope of Presidential power in the area of electronic surveillance. These hearings would benefit substantially if an independent panel of Constitutional scholars and experts on the laws affecting intelligence activities was to examine existing statutes, regulations, practices and precedents. We urge that you and the Democratic Leader establish such a panel jointly. The work of this panel would enable the House to make more informed judgments on whether adjustments to those authorities are necessary.

We believe that the President must have the best possible intelligence to protect the American people, but that intelligence must be produced in a manner consistent with our Constitution and our laws, and in a manner that reflects our values as a nation. Our suggestion for hearings and the appointment of an independent panel of experts is fully in keeping with that belief.

We look forward to receiving your response on this important matter.

Sincerely,

Hon. Nancy Pelosi
Democratic Leader

Hon. Steny Hoyer
Democratic Whip

Hon. John Conyers
Ranking member, Judiciary

Hon. Henry Waxman
Ranking member, Government Reform

Hon. Jane Harman
Ranking member, Intelligence

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 12/19/05 at 10:11am

PJ - this is such an issue that even Katie Courac was going after him.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/19/05 at 10:12am

It's such a big issue that Bush is holding a press conference on it at 10:30.

Fascinating how these things take on lives of their own.