Ever since the story broke about King George’s “domestic eavesdropping program”, he, the White House and many other conservative lemmings have been saying that they broke no laws and the law was not an infringement on the civil rights of any U.S. citizen (Immigrants who aren’t U.S. citizens but here legally are another story all together…)
Now the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee (remember him, Ted Kennedy’s good friend and verbal sparring partner) has expressed skepticism over Commander Cuckoo-Bananas’ domestic eavesdropping program. Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) joined a chorus of Republicans and Democrats by questioning the legal justification of the law. It’s even gotten to the point where the committee will hold hearings in February on the decision to allow the National Security Agency program to continue without court approval. Specter also has told administration officials that he believes they are on shaky legal ground. (Like this is anything new for this administration…)
In his defense, Dubya’s puppeteers (you know;Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rove, etc) have maneuvered him to point to a congressional resolution that was passed after the 9/11 attacks that authorized him to use force in the fight against terrorism for allowing him to order the program into existence. The program authorized eavesdropping of international phone calls and e-mails of people deemed a terror risk. (How, in God’s name, is this considered ‘use of force’? Maybe they were threatening to whack the country upside the head with the phone receiver so Bush and Company decided to whack them over the head with the receiver first… that must be what they mean by ‘force’)
Specter said on ABC's “This Week”, “I thought they were wrong. There still may be different collateral powers under wartime situations. That is a knotty question.” Speaking in general terms Specter said that impeachment and criminal prosecution are possible in the event a president acted unconstitutionally. (Uh, ok… I don’t even no where to begin with that sentence)
A number of members of Specter's committee, including Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) have also expressed doubt about the administration's legal basis and is looking to the hearings to help clear things up.
The hearings are being planned for early February, with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as the main attraction.
But… let’s keep in mind that Specter is a Republican Bush-lackey, so he also added this little morsel; “I don't see any talk about impeachment here. I don't think anyone doubts the president is making a good-faith effort. He's acting in a way that he feels he must.”
What?
I seem to remember that we as a nation heard arguments like this during the Iran-Contra affair in the 80’s. Is this printed in the Republican handbook?
Now the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee (remember him, Ted Kennedy’s good friend and verbal sparring partner) has expressed skepticism over Commander Cuckoo-Bananas’ domestic eavesdropping program. Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) joined a chorus of Republicans and Democrats by questioning the legal justification of the law. It’s even gotten to the point where the committee will hold hearings in February on the decision to allow the National Security Agency program to continue without court approval. Specter also has told administration officials that he believes they are on shaky legal ground. (Like this is anything new for this administration…)
In his defense, Dubya’s puppeteers (you know;Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rove, etc) have maneuvered him to point to a congressional resolution that was passed after the 9/11 attacks that authorized him to use force in the fight against terrorism for allowing him to order the program into existence. The program authorized eavesdropping of international phone calls and e-mails of people deemed a terror risk. (How, in God’s name, is this considered ‘use of force’? Maybe they were threatening to whack the country upside the head with the phone receiver so Bush and Company decided to whack them over the head with the receiver first… that must be what they mean by ‘force’)
Specter said on ABC's “This Week”, “I thought they were wrong. There still may be different collateral powers under wartime situations. That is a knotty question.” Speaking in general terms Specter said that impeachment and criminal prosecution are possible in the event a president acted unconstitutionally. (Uh, ok… I don’t even no where to begin with that sentence)
A number of members of Specter's committee, including Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) have also expressed doubt about the administration's legal basis and is looking to the hearings to help clear things up.
The hearings are being planned for early February, with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as the main attraction.
But… let’s keep in mind that Specter is a Republican Bush-lackey, so he also added this little morsel; “I don't see any talk about impeachment here. I don't think anyone doubts the president is making a good-faith effort. He's acting in a way that he feels he must.”
What?
I seem to remember that we as a nation heard arguments like this during the Iran-Contra affair in the 80’s. Is this printed in the Republican handbook?
When in trouble, do the following in this order:
- Blame others.
- Shift blame to them evil Democrats.
- Accept half-assed responsibility.
- Do #3 followed immediately by stating you are/were acting in a way that you feel you must in order to protect the country.
Huh? Did I miss something? Isn’t that something we try to teach our children not to do? Blame others and then justify that what they had done (which is usually bad) to make it seem less bad? I remember this lesson from my parents, and have already started that with my kids… but here we have the GOP doing that exact thing.
So… you have comments from a leading Republican Senator. A fire-branding speech by former Vice-President Al Gore on Monday (if you haven’t read it or seen it… click here to read it and here to view it. You will NOT be disappointed!). Attorney General Alberto Gonzales rejecting Gore’s calls for a special counsel. The ACLU (who… despite being a liberal… I am not a big fan of) prepping a lawsuit against the administration over US domestic spying. The White House blasting Gore’s 'hypocrisy'. You throw all those things together and you have yourselves a good old-fashioned, DC-donnybrook forming.
Ain’t it grand?
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1 comment:
Hell yea it's grand. Get a call or an email from Al Queida, and who cares what happens to you. Personally, if one here in the greatest nation on earth were to fall into that category and then was found in the desert (old Vegas baby!) with a bullet in their skull, I could care less. So let me ask, are all conservatives lemmings? Let me know if I fall into that category so I can up my ante of name calling for you two.
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