Bush disrespects the law yet again!

[Mugg Mann]

That is the scariest sentence I've ever read.

It's certainly up there!

NO administration, Republican, Democratic, Libertarian, or what the hell, even Vulcan should ever be allowed to even think this way, much less act accordingly!

 

[TheDoctor]

The ACLU has a great reaction to this news.

WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today strongly rebuked President Bush for his direct involvement with the suspension of an investigation by the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) into the warrantless surveillance program conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA).

The following can be attributed to Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office:

"In America, no one, not even a president, is above the law. And, no one - even the president - should interfere with an investigation into whether laws have been broken and the Constitution was subverted. OPR’s own top lawyer noted that the office has never before been prevented from investigating, even when dealing with highly classified information. Clearly, the president has concerns about the legality of the NSA warrantless wiretapping program and the possible consequences of his disregard for the rule of law.

"This latest revelation shows all the more reason why the Attorney General must appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the program. Such steps are necessary to ensure that the inquiry will be free from political agendas. The American people and the Constitution deserve an independent investigator who can, and will, get to the truth.


"Even as these revelations come before the Senate Judiciary Committee, that panel is poised to consider legislation absolving the president of his illegal actions. S. 2453, drafted by Vice-President Dick Cheney and Chairman Arlen Specter, would give the administration a blank check to conduct warrantless surveillance and approve the NSA program. Representatives Heather Wilson, Peter Hoekstra and James Sensenbrenner have introduced legislation that also allows for the NSA warrantless surveillance to continue. Abuse of power must be curtailed, not rewarded."

 

[TheDoctor]

Here is some more on Bush's cover up. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2006/07/19/BL2006071900935.html

Bush's move -- denying the requisite security clearances to attorneys from the department's ethics office -- is unprecedented in that office's history. It also comes in stark contrast to the enthusiastic way in which security clearances were dished out to a different group of attorneys: Those charged with finding out who leaked information about the program to the press.

It is not common for a president to personally intervene to stop an investigation of his own administration. The most notorious case, of course, was the Saturday Night Massacre of 1973, during which President Richard Nixon ordered the firing of Archibald Cox, the special prosecutor who had been appointed to investigate the Watergate scandal. Among the many major differences, however: In that case, Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William D. Ruckelshaus resigned rather than follow Nixon's order.

Bush's action is also another example of what I have previously noted is a consistent White House modus operandi: That time and time again, Bush and his aides have selectively leaked or declassified secret intelligence findings that served their political agenda -- while aggressively asserting the need to keep secret the information that would tend to discredit them.

Again, bush will leak information when it helps him but attacks the NYT and others when they disclose anything that embarrasses them. In this case, bush is clearly stating that he is above the law.

 

[TheDoctor]

I am amazed that this story is not going more attention. The coverup of this investigation is truly an outrageous act. Here is yet another good editorial that explains why bush's actions are so wrong http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ed...articles/2006/07/20/bush_pulls_plug_on_probe/

President Bush started the domestic surveillance program in the belief that his wartime powers and a resolution passed by Congress after Sept. 11 gave him the right to sidestep the law, even though it allows officials to wiretap first, if they seek a warrant within three days. Some members of Congress challenged this and in January asked for an inquiry by the Justice Department's ethics unit. In May, the head of the Office of Professional Responsibility wrote to Congress that his office could not investigate because its staff members could not get security clearances. On Tuesday, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said at a Senate hearing that it was Bush himself who had denied the clearances and blocked the inquiry.

For 31 years, the Office of Professional Responsibility has conducted investigations into executive branch programs involving the highest levels of classified information. Until now, the office had never been prevented from pursuing an inquiry. The head of the office, H. Marshall Jarrett, made these points within the Bush administration in trying to get the clearances.

Gonzales told the Senate that the president withheld permission because he wanted to limit the number of individuals who knew the details of the surveillance. However, by the time Congress had asked for the investigation, the program had been the subject of extensive press reports. The more likely reason for Bush's refusal is that he feared the judgment of Jarrett's lawyers.

In the Supreme Court decision last month rejecting military tribunals, Justice John Paul Stevens cited a quotation from James Madison: ``The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny." A president who will not let his own Justice Department's ethics office examine the process by which the administration approved the circumvention of a law is doing his best to unmoor the government from the checks and balances so valued by Madison and the other Founding Fathers.

This coverup does meet the definition of tyranny set forth above.

 

[Free4Life11]

Probably, b/c he would still have his mic on.

"Yo Blair!"

Has his lovely transcript been posted on the DIS? That should be good for a few pages of fun.

 

[TnKrBeLlA012]

As far as I'm concerned he can listen to every conversation going in and out of this country. If it's in Arab more power to him! I'll even pay for the translator.

 

[Laura]

As far as I'm concerned he can listen to every conversation going in and out of this country. If it's in Arab more power to him! I'll even pay for the translator.

If you weren't serious, I'd be

 

[TnKrBeLlA012]

If you weren't serious, I'd be

I'll repeat my post. I'm very serious!

 

[need_a_Disney_fix]

I'll repeat my post. I'm very serious!

I am with you!!!!!!! YES!

 

[shortbun]

As far as I'm concerned he can listen to every conversation going in and out of this country. If it's in Arab more power to him! I'll even pay for the translator.

Um, "Arab" is NOT a language.

 

[ChrisFL]

So whats the difference between this and a dictatorship again?

What am I saying, Bush HASN'T disrespected the law again, its hard to disrespect something you completely IGNORE.

 

[maddhatir]

But if a bush fell in the woods, would anyone hear it?

why- did cheney shoot him??

 

[LoraJ]

As far as I'm concerned he can listen to every conversation going in and out of this country. If it's in Arab more power to him! I'll even pay for the translator.

Well if that's the case then write congress to make that legal.
You're fine with Bush breaking the law because it suits your needs?

 

[TheDoctor]

It has been noted that Bush has been advised to beef up the white house counsel's office to deal with all of the investigations that are going to occur if the Democrats gain control of either the House or the Senate. This will be a fun area to hold hearings.