Drive a Stake In It
Attorney Generalissimo Betito Gonzales refuses to give up. He continues to demand that the Congress pass the NSA wire tap law or the terrorists will win. He implied as much to the cadets at the Air Force Academy at a speech Saturday. From an AP report:
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales contended Saturday that some critics of the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance program were defining freedom in a way that poses a "grave threat" to U.S. security.
Gonzales was the second administration official in two days to attack a federal judge's ruling last August that the program was unconstitutional. Vice President Dick Cheney on Friday called the ruling "an indefensible act of judicial overreaching."
Gonzales told about 400 cadets from the Air Force Academy's political science and law classes that some see the program as on the verge of stifling freedom rather that protecting the country.
"But this view is shortsighted," he said. "Its definition of freedom - one utterly divorced from civic responsibility - is superficial and is itself a grave threat to the liberty and security of the American people."
..."We believe the president has the authority under the authorization of military force and inherent authority of the constitution to engage in this sort of program, but we want to supplement that authority," he said.
The administration has maintained that its warrantless surveillance program focuses on international calls involving suspected terrorists, and dismisses charges that it is illegal because it bypasses federal law requiring a judge-issued warrant for such eavesdropping.
...Speaking to the cadets, Gonzales dismissed as "myth" the charge that civil liberties were being sacrificed in the fight against terrorism. He defended the Patriot Act and the handling of detainees at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. [Emphasis added]
That is some of most tortured logic I've seen since the last time his boss justified the invasion of Iraq. I'll tell you what is divorced from civic responsibility, illegally wiretapping phones without a judicially issued warrant in violation of the Fourth and First Amendment of the US Constitution. That is a true attack on the liberty and safety of the American people.
And if the president already has the authority to ignore the Constitution by virtue of the Authorization of Military Force Act, why is this latest bill necessary? Could it be that the bill, which has a retroactive provision, is required to save the current administration from a raft of trials for high crimes and misdemeanors? If they truly believe that the president has the inherent authority to engage in such activity, why is such a supplement required? Don't they believe hard enough?
No, the bill stinks and Betito and his co-conspirators know it. The reason it stinks is so self-evident that Betito inadvertently let slip the best reason to defeat the bill:
"To achieve victory at the cost of eroding civil liberties would not really be a victory. We cannot change the core identity of our nation and claim success," said Gonzales
Exactly, you corrupt moron.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales contended Saturday that some critics of the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance program were defining freedom in a way that poses a "grave threat" to U.S. security.
Gonzales was the second administration official in two days to attack a federal judge's ruling last August that the program was unconstitutional. Vice President Dick Cheney on Friday called the ruling "an indefensible act of judicial overreaching."
Gonzales told about 400 cadets from the Air Force Academy's political science and law classes that some see the program as on the verge of stifling freedom rather that protecting the country.
"But this view is shortsighted," he said. "Its definition of freedom - one utterly divorced from civic responsibility - is superficial and is itself a grave threat to the liberty and security of the American people."
..."We believe the president has the authority under the authorization of military force and inherent authority of the constitution to engage in this sort of program, but we want to supplement that authority," he said.
The administration has maintained that its warrantless surveillance program focuses on international calls involving suspected terrorists, and dismisses charges that it is illegal because it bypasses federal law requiring a judge-issued warrant for such eavesdropping.
...Speaking to the cadets, Gonzales dismissed as "myth" the charge that civil liberties were being sacrificed in the fight against terrorism. He defended the Patriot Act and the handling of detainees at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. [Emphasis added]
That is some of most tortured logic I've seen since the last time his boss justified the invasion of Iraq. I'll tell you what is divorced from civic responsibility, illegally wiretapping phones without a judicially issued warrant in violation of the Fourth and First Amendment of the US Constitution. That is a true attack on the liberty and safety of the American people.
And if the president already has the authority to ignore the Constitution by virtue of the Authorization of Military Force Act, why is this latest bill necessary? Could it be that the bill, which has a retroactive provision, is required to save the current administration from a raft of trials for high crimes and misdemeanors? If they truly believe that the president has the inherent authority to engage in such activity, why is such a supplement required? Don't they believe hard enough?
No, the bill stinks and Betito and his co-conspirators know it. The reason it stinks is so self-evident that Betito inadvertently let slip the best reason to defeat the bill:
"To achieve victory at the cost of eroding civil liberties would not really be a victory. We cannot change the core identity of our nation and claim success," said Gonzales
Exactly, you corrupt moron.
Labels: Fourth Amendment, NSA
posted by Diane at 3:24 AM
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