War of Words

Today in the liberal stronghold of Manhattan, Kansas, Bush attempted rebranding of his domestic spying program. To the Shrub, eavesdropping on conversations without even attempting to get the kangaroo court called FISE to approve a warrant is called a "terrorist surveillance program." I thought we had one. It's called FISE.

The law calls for Bush to show "probable cause" to a FISE court before engaging in domestic espionage. Bush's instructions call for a "reason to believe". Applying that reduced standard makes it suddenly crystal clear why the Shrub wanted to bypass a court that had approved 99.9 percent of all requests brought before it: His targets didn't even meet the absurdly weak standards required under the FISE standards.

The Shrub maintains he was briefing Congress on the program; therefore, he must be doing nothing illegal. Is this the same Republican-dominated body in full retreat because of its dealings with a certain law-abiding citizen called Jack Abramoff? The only way I'll believe the briefings of Congress had anything to do with the illegal domestic espionage program is when I know what he briefed to whom and of what party. Evidence tends to believe the Obfuscator in Chief was engaged in a campaign of obfuscation, asking Congress for changes - all approved by the way - to FISE while actually violating it with his program of domestic spying without a warrant. All kinds of lawyers have looked at this? Samuel Alito was once a lawyer and what would he say to the President's power grab? I'd guess he'd encourage whomever is working on it to complete work on the crown so Roberts can put it on the Shrub's empty little head at the earliest possible.

Bush defines espionage as use of force. I suppose this domestic spying is use of force in the sense of the science of physics, pushing a button does require one to exert force. He claims it is a wartime necessity. The war he refers to will never end as long as there is someone with a bit of knowledge, a bit of material and a lot of anger against us. Given the excesses of the Bush regime, I can't say I blame some of them. If we allow this power grab, where will the next one be? I'd guess that our search engine records are the next "vital information" in the endless war against a tactic employed by those who hate us. How much of our liberty will we give up to have the second King George protect us?