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\nIn defense of his domestic spying program, George Bush said today, “When terrorist operatives are here in America communicating with someone overseas, we must understand what’s going on if we’re going to do our job to protect the people. The safety and security of the American people depend on our ability to find out who the terrorists are talking to, and what they’re planning.\u201d<\/p>\n
He went on, “Federal courts have consistently ruled that a president has authority under the Constitution to conduct foreign intelligence surveillance against our enemies. My predecessors have used the same constitutional authority on numerous occasions. And the Supreme Court has ruled that Congress gave the president additional authority to use the traditional tools — or ‘fundamental incidents’ — of war in the fight against terror when Congress passed the authorization for the use of military force in 2001.”<\/p>\n
To examine the validity of the President\u2019s statements, you have to look at the resolution he referenced.<\/p>\n
In the War Powers Resolution of 2001, it stated that the President \u201c\u2026has authority under the Constitution to take action to deter and prevent acts of international terrorism against the United States\u2026\u201d and that \u201c\u2026 the President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons.\u201d Emphasis added.<\/p>\n
This clearly delineates the President\u2019s authority as that which is specifically granted under the Constitution.<\/p>\n
In the constitution, the Fourth Amendment guarantees Americans \u201cThe right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.\u201d This right includes protections against warrantless wiretaps.<\/p>\n
\nNowhere in the Constitution is there a provision granting the President extraordinary powers in time of war \u2013 where those powers would supercede other provisions of the Constitution. The limits of his presidential power are very clearly defined. And there is no provision allowing the President to suspend the Fourth Amendment due process provisions for whatever reason.
\nNeither is that granted in the War Powers Act of 2001, which as stated above, specifically limits the President to exercise his \u201cauthority under the constitution.\u201d It goes on to say, \u201c\u2026the President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force…\u201d<\/p>\n
As such, any action made which violated the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution could never be an \u201cappropriate\u201d act.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) placed additional restrictions on domestic spying specifically making it illegal to spy on American citizens within the United States without first securing a warrant \u2013 although, it also made it very easy for the administration to get warrants, using the secret FISA courts.<\/p>\n
My understanding of the FISA courts is that they\u2019ve made it so the NSA or FBI can get a warrant in as little as 30 minutes. It\u2019s a secret process, so the object of the wiretap is never informed. And apparently, in the thousands of cases they\u2019ve heard, the FISA courts have only turned down a handful of requests.
\nWhy Bush feels this process is too restrictive or cumbersome is beyond me. I am at a total loss to understand his logic for not using the FISA courts.<\/p>\n
So here are the plain facts:<\/p>\n
What George Bush would have us believe is that the clear language of the Constitution, the clear language of the 2001 War Powers Act, and the clear language of the 1978 FISA law all are utter nonsense. They really don\u2019t mean what they seem to say.<\/p>\n
What Bush would have us believe they all really mean \u2013 if we read between the lines, I guess \u2013 is that George Bush can do whatever he feels is necessary, constitutional or otherwise \u2013 to protect America from terrorism \u2013 the dreaded \u201cT\u201d word. Bush feels America\u2019s safety, as he alone defines it, is of paramount importance, and he\u2019s telling us that maybe from time to time, that\u2019s more important than the Constitution.<\/p>\n
Reaction to this news on Capitol Hill today was mixed.<\/p>\n
For one, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) called Bush’s rationale a “strange” and dangerous legal stretch.<\/p>\n
Well I\u2019ll go one step further: it\u2019s pure nonsense \u2013 gibberish. And Hillary\u2019s right \u2013 it\u2019s very dangerous nonsense.<\/p>\n
This absolutely brazen defense of criminal acts by Bush simply staggers me. I see it as the first real step towards making this country into a totalitarian dictatorship \u2013 and quite frankly, it scares the hell out of me.<\/p>\n
Everyone forgets how Germany descended into totalitarianism in the Thirties. It didn\u2019t happen overnight. Hitler chipped away at the German people\u2019s rights a little at a time \u2013 it was a slow, insidious process that played out over nearly 10 years. And by and large the German people acquiesced without protest \u2013 in the interest of their national safety. Hitler, after all, was a very gifted orator \u2013 he made things seem so plausible; so necessary, so correct.<\/p>\n
Each right the Germans gave up made it just that much easier to give up some other right.<\/p>\n
And so Nazi Germany evolved into a dictatorship.<\/p>\n
We CANNOT let that happen here.<\/p>\n
The freedoms we are guaranteed under the US Constitution are the most important aspect of the heritage we Americans share. If we allow any provisions of the Constitution to be suspended in the name of an exigent situation \u2013 to \u201cprotect Americans,\u201d then we have started down the very same path the Germans trod in 1932. We\u2019ve got to stop this dangerous nonsense right now before it goes any farther.<\/p>\n
The Constitution is the supreme law of the land. It applies equally to everyone \u2013 including the president. We must not give up even a single right, not for any reason \u2013 ever. Because if we do, a tyranny shall soon surely follow.<\/p>\n
It happened in Germany and it can happen here. Americans are not immune.
\nGeorge Bush must be impeached \u2013 and he should be tried for his crimes against the state, in authorizing these illegal wiretaps.<\/p>\n
***********************************
\nThe full text of the congressional War Powers resolution is given below:<\/p>\n
Senate Joint Resolution No. 23
\nOne Hundred Seventh Congress
\nof the<\/p>\n
United States of America
\nAT THE FIRST SESSION
\nBegun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
\nthe third day of January, two thousand and one
\nJoint Resolution<\/p>\n
To authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against those responsible for the recent attacks launched against the United States.<\/p>\n
Whereas, on September 11, 2001, acts of treacherous violence were committed against the United States and its citizens; and<\/p>\n
Whereas, such acts render it both necessary and appropriate that the United States exercise its rights to self-defense and to protect United States citizens both at home and abroad; and<\/p>\n
Whereas, in light of the threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by these grave acts of violence; and<\/p>\n
Whereas, such acts continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States; and<\/p>\n
Whereas, the President has authority under the Constitution to take action to deter and prevent acts of international terrorism against the United States:<\/p>\n
Now, therefore, be it<\/p>\n
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,<\/p>\n
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
\nThis joint resolution may be cited as the `Authorization for Use of Military Force’.<\/p>\n
SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES.
\n(a) IN GENERAL- That the President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons.<\/p>\n
(b) War Powers Resolution Requirements-<\/p>\n
(1) SPECIFIC STATUTORY AUTHORIZATION- Consistent with section 8(a)(1) of the War Powers Resolution, the Congress declares that this section is intended to constitute specific statutory authorization within the meaning of section 5(b) of the War Powers Resolution.<\/p>\n
(2) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER REQUIREMENTS- Nothing in this resolution supercedes any requirement of the War Powers Resolution.<\/p>\n
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
\nVice President of the United States and
\nPresident of the Senate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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