Some say, "If you haven't done anything wrong, you have nothing to fear."
I say, "Rotten green fuzzy baloney."
The Bush apologists out there are responding predictably and defending his secret, warrantless spying on Americans as constitutional, legal, no big deal anyway, and the real crime here is the leak about his spying to the New York Times.
If you are tempted to believe any one of those points -- snap out of it! If you think warrantless domestic spying is okay because you wuv wuv wuv George Bush and think he's the bestest president ever (Harriet Meiers...has left the building), imagine Clinton doing the same thing. Would you be outraged then?
Then you should bloody well be outraged now! American democracy is supposed to be about the rule of law, not unlimited imperial power concentrated in the hands of the president. We have no divine right of kings here. We have elected officials who are expected to obey the same rules as ordinary Americans. In fact, elected officials are considered to be ordinary Americans. You could run for president. I could run for president. We wouldn't win, because we're not well-connected millionaires. But we could run. God bless America.
And if you think that warrantless spying is, well, warranted because of 9/11 -- that Bush administration "get out of jail free" card -- then think again. Cheney claims it has "prevented another attack," without being able to demonstrate that they have used it to catch any terrorists. What, is it supposed to be a deterrent or something? Except it's secret! So, no!
And if you're actually trying to catch terrorists, what're you doing spying on Quakers? Quick, a little quiz. Who was responsible for the 9/11 attacks? Was it --
- Peace activists
- Saudi nationals with probable Al Qaeda connections
- The Bush administration
- A bunch of crazy hate-filled maniacs
B and D answers are acceptable, C is paranoid but interesting. A means you are a complete idiot.
Speaking of Cheney, I think this quote explains his position concisely:
"Watergate and a lot of the things around Watergate and Vietnam, both during the 1970s, served, I think, to erode the authority I think the president needs to be effective, especially in the national security area. Especially in the day and age we live in...the president of the United States needs to have his constitutional powers unimpaired, if you will, in terms of the conduct of national security policy."
So, really, he's just been in a snit since Watergate made the peasants cautious about trusting the president too much. Dirty peasants, don't know what's good for 'em.
And as for his claim that it would have prevented 9/11, because "we didn't know they were here plotting until it was too late" -- um -- look, if they already had a memo called "Al Qaeda plans attack in the US," what more were they going to get by unwarranted wiretapping? (Washington Post).
I must confess, too, that I'm having difficulty reconciling the NRA rebel-yell cold-dead-fingers pro-Bush constituency with the "spying is okay as long as Republicans do it" viewpoint. Maybe it's not the same people...but it sure seems like it. I picture some guy standing out on his barn roof brandishing a rifle at the black helicopter, shouting, "Ye'll never take my gun ye government varmints!" The helicopter lands and a couple of goons in suits get out. They say, "But we're Republicans." The guy says, "Well, okay then," and hands over the rifle without a fuss.
Related: Just when you thought it was safe to wear your "Impeach Bush" shirts to the flag-hearting good time Bush rally, along comes The Patriot Act: Part II: The Final (that is, permanent) Chapter.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/12/AR2005121201448.html
The new bill adds language prohibiting people from "willfully and knowingly" entering a restricted area "where the President or other person protected by the Secret Service is or will be temporarily visiting." The measure also applies to security breaches "in conjunction with an event designated as a special event of national significance" and doubles the prison time for those found in violation (from six months to a year).
"It's cementing the trend of the Secret Service basically acting to arrest or harass or control dissenters, and now not just at presidential events but at other events," said Timothy H. Edgar, the ACLU's national security counsel.
And now, here it is, my little contribution to the spook words project:
Al Qaeda, Taliban, Iraq, assassinate, 9/11, bomb, George W. Bush, kill the president, kill the wabbit, POTUS, SCOTUS, FLOTUS, GOATUS, uranium, plutonium, strontium, target, airplane, train, bridge, tunnel, ship, tower, building, kidnap, torture, Afghanistan, explosives, C4, nuclear, infidel, Allah, Satan, suicide bomber, rebellion, echelon, New York, Washington DC, Seattle, White House, Congress, Senate, Supreme Court, satellite, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, tinker, tailor, soldier, spy, insurgent, Osama bin Laden, Bert and Ernie, jihad, police, Secret Service, FBI, National Security Agency, wiretap, surveillance, carnivore, PeTA, death, destruction, glock 26, glockenspiel, rail gun, nail gun
