Yea, that's the word, dictatorial...

To say "unchecked power" basically is ascribing some kind of dictatorial position to the President, which I strongly reject. 12/19/05

Well I'm not sure how else to describe it. Let's see. The "program" was outside the Patriot Act and FISA, it was secret, and it involved spying on Americans. For all the cheer leading about how important the Patriot Act was , Bush obviously felt that it wasn't quite good enough. Bush claims the "leaking" of the program's existence is shameful and jeopardizes national security. Its like a cop getting caught in the act of beating a suspect and then blames the whistle-blower for compromising the security of the neighborhood. Bad analogy, since what the cop said may be at least partially true.

Call me dumb, but I can't think of a single reason why the public knowledge of Bush's "program" puts us at risk any more than the public knowledge of FISA or the Patriot Act. Both pieces of legislation allow broad powers given to the Feds when it comes to eavesdropping. They even allow for court approval to be granted retroactively. The revelation that the courts aren't involved wouldn't change a terrorist's state of alarm, one would assume. If you can think of a reason, let me know, but I can't really think of one.

I'll roll thru some scenarios...

Let's assume Bush is genuinely trying to protect the country, and is using these secret powers in accordance with the Constitution and authorization given by congress. Let's believe all his spin for a second. Why would he keep the vast majority of congress in the dark about it ? Swore those who knew to secrecy? Do we just assume that they did what they felt they had to do and just wanted to avoid the political uproar we're experiencing now? Do we give him the benefit of the doubt, and assume that he was a frustrated president just trying to get through a thick bureaucracy and cut through the red tape? Maybe he knew it was illegal , and decided it was worth the risk? They tried to minimize the president's involvement if possible? "Last resort", so to speak?

Or...

Did the actions of 19 suicidal haters give him a pass to declare a state of constant war and conquest? War was politically good in the months after the attacks, after all. The media did everything they could to rally around him at the time. Did Bush get so drunk off playing a wartime president and so paranoid of his enemies that he used the NSA to spy on people? Something Rove learned from Nixon? Do we have any reason to believe otherwise? The program is "classified", of course. It doesn't help that he is forming a pattern of declining trustworthiness, and credibility. But he wants us to take his word on this one. This is a guy that insisted on flying in a jet onto an aircraft carrier wearing a jumpsuit. It's not too much of a stretch to think he wanted to play 007 too.

Posted by ChenZhen at December 22, 2005 12:49 AM