Bush Spies to be Faster and Quicker
Stardate 5033.7
Right after George McChimpy comes out and says that leaking info about the secret operations set up to spy on his own citizens is shameful (er, let's prioritise the bit about what is shameful George), Alberto "Torturemeister" Gonzales, the US Attorney General hand picked by Bush, says that the President has the authority to do so.
To recap, Bush has allowed the NSA to intercept phone calls and e-mails of thousands of US citizens since the 9-11 attacks. However, a 1978 law, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, makes it illegal to spy on US citizens without court approval.
Bush's response?
Yeah, so you can circumvent the law you are swearing to uphold so that you can move "faster and quicker". There is a some good old answering there. Faster and quicker.
According to Gonzales, Bush has constitutional and congressional backing for "very limited, targeted" surveillance. However, as usual with the Bush administration, this description is so vague that it can be warped into almost anything they want... very similar to the torture arguement. Of course, they have to be calls outside of the country, or perhaps calls from people with "suspected" ties to Al Qaeda or other groups.
This administration continues to believe they are above the law, and wield uncontested power over not only their own population, but now others as well. We all know where that ends up going...
Right after George McChimpy comes out and says that leaking info about the secret operations set up to spy on his own citizens is shameful (er, let's prioritise the bit about what is shameful George), Alberto "Torturemeister" Gonzales, the US Attorney General hand picked by Bush, says that the President has the authority to do so.
To recap, Bush has allowed the NSA to intercept phone calls and e-mails of thousands of US citizens since the 9-11 attacks. However, a 1978 law, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, makes it illegal to spy on US citizens without court approval.
Bush's response?
“because it enables us to move faster and quicker. We’ve got to be fast on our feet... It is legal to do so. I swore to uphold the laws. Legal authority is derived from the Constitution”
Yeah, so you can circumvent the law you are swearing to uphold so that you can move "faster and quicker". There is a some good old answering there. Faster and quicker.
According to Gonzales, Bush has constitutional and congressional backing for "very limited, targeted" surveillance. However, as usual with the Bush administration, this description is so vague that it can be warped into almost anything they want... very similar to the torture arguement. Of course, they have to be calls outside of the country, or perhaps calls from people with "suspected" ties to Al Qaeda or other groups.
This administration continues to believe they are above the law, and wield uncontested power over not only their own population, but now others as well. We all know where that ends up going...
posted by Zaphod at 10:16 AM
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