As a Christmas present to the nation, President Bush has finally liberated Americans from the burdensome constitution.
NEW YORK – President Bush has personally authorized a secretive eavesdropping program in the United States more than three dozen times since October 2001, a senior intelligence official said Friday night.
The disclosure follows angry demands by lawmakers earlier in the day for a congressional inquiry into whether the monitoring by the highly secretive National Security Agency violated civil liberties.
But no blowjobs were involved, so the Republican-controlled congress will most likely not investigate. Actually, I’m not sure what is worse: the President’s assault on civil liberties, or the fact that the New York Times – in an act of self-censorship – sat on the story for an entire year:
In an unusual note, the Times said in its story that it held off publishing the 3,600-word article for a year after the newspaper’s representatives met with White House officials. It said the White House had asked the paper not to publish the story at all, "arguing that it could jeopardize continuing investigations and alert would-be terrorists that they might be under scrutiny."
Do Americans even care that their rights are being systematically eroded, while the our free press goes into winter hibernation? Blogger Steve Clemons calls for immediate release of the names of those who have been spied on and monitored. Clemons was a vocal (and effective) opponent of the John Bolton nomination for the UN ambassador post, so his name is undoubtedly high up on the list of suspected terrorist sympathizers:
But this invasion of privacy in the case of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of American citizens must be challenged in the courts. What Bush did is engage in an extra-legal act against the citizens he is paid to represent — and this is criminal.
Post the list. It should be made public because at this point there is NO NATIONAL SECURITY rationale to justify the monitoring of citizens in cases that have not been approved by a court. That means that all of those citizens monitored are innocent — and unwitting victims of this domestic spy campaign launched by George W. Bush.
Publish the list of phone numbers, Mr. President. Do it now or lawyers may start working today to compel you through the courts to do it.
Will my name be on the list? Will yours?
