Posted on 01/03/2006 1:45:06 AM PST by SBD1
Because of the President's constitutional duty to act for the United States in the field of foreign relations, and his inherent power to protect national security in the context of foreign affairs, we reaffirm what we held in United States v. Clay, (430 F.2d 165 (5th Cir. 1970), rev'd on other grounds 403 U.S. 698, 91 S. Ct. 2068, 29 L. Ed. 2d 810 (1970)), that the President may constitutionally authorize warrantless wiretaps for the purpose of gathering foreign intelligence.
This is a great find but I'm wondering why this case hasn't been cited by anyone. The lack of comment regarding this decision makes me think there may be other court cases since that have muddied the waters.
This is great background info. The way I see it, though, the POTUS doesn't even need a court's "permission" to fight a war. Fighting a war is part of his Constitutional obligation and authority.
I'm sure the NYT will pick this up and leap to the defense of Bush,,,hic
Yoohoo! Do me up baby! Tap my phone! Who needs privacy anyway! As long as it's a Republican doing it why do I care! Happy New Year!
Are you talking to Al Quaeda? If not, nobody's interested.
Hmmmm. So, what's the difference between the Stasi in East Germany saying it was for 'National Security' and a democratic White House under Hillary Clinton saying it's for 'National Security'? And when it's no longer Al Qaeda they're worried about? When they begin to consider political action groups to be a threat to 'National Security'? What then?
The rest of you can lap this up if you want- that's you're choice of course- but nothing on this Earth can make me like this. If that makes me a 'bad conservative'- I don't care.
I'm glad someone else is thinking of the future and not just the here and now. Most of the hard core Bushbots simply don't realise that GW will not be in office forever, and if , God forbid, a Democrat like Hillary takes office, the same people that were all for Big Brother having his way with the common folk will be screaming of the injustice.
I say we have a 3 branch system that's worked for over 200 years, why tamper with success?
This is not the first time this has been done. It has been ruled on by the courts before.
However, don't let the facts get in the way of a good rant, in which you can call Bush a dictator.
Well, Miss Marple, apparently I have offended you because you are putting words in my mouth. I have never called Bush a dictator nor would I. If you want to see that go over to DemUnderground.
I think I made it pretty clear in my post that I am not just concerned with this President or this enemy that we currently face. I am concerned with the Hillary Clintons, the Howard Deans the Nancy Pelosis and Cynthia McKinneys and other nutjobs we have yet to be introduced to who might use this in the future.
I guarantee that if this were Al Gore doing this right now, you would find narry a Freeper to go along with it and that they do it now just to support this President is a bit sickening in my opinion.
My country comes before my party in my heart. My country comes before the occupant of the White House. Presidents come and go but the nation must endure so that freedom will endure. And if freedom has not survived then neither has a nation that has been founded upon it. Freedom must be zealousy defended. Zealousy.
This is where my allegiances lie. Everything else is secondary. Better to have al Qaeda cut my head off than to give up everything that makes life worth living.
But you can do what you want of course.
Well said, I concur.
My take is that there are legitimate uses and illigimate uses of this power.
I don't like it much, either. But I am not ready to impeach the President over it. It looks like what was done was legal, because it was done for the purposes of gathering foreign intelligence. So the legal issue is settled, IMHO.
However, as a political issue, I would favor a politician who supported clear limitations in this regard. If a Presidential candidate were to come out foursquare for an executive order stating clearly what the government may and may not do in this area that would be more protective of individual privacy, I would be more inclined to support that candidate.
To me, ultimately, it is a political question.
Congress was trying to fool with the Powers of the President but I did find a statement that says the President has separate Powers in regard to surveillance on the FISA site. I will go back.
Executive Orders by the President is an issue in which Congress does not and cannot interfere. If they could, you can be darn sure they would want to review each case themselves.
Congress is a "messy place". It is why we wound up with a President with special Powers. We expect all our Presidents to be "moral" and protect our Nation and the danger (I believe according to John Adams) is not a King but a Congress who effectively shuts down the government because of their individual interests.
People now have to be getting sick and tired of their lies and deceptions, but there is no way we can put up with these irresponsible tactics any longer...
Shun this POS rag until it prints responsibly, or until hell freezes over!
This whole thing makes the ultra-cons and the ultra-libs feel very insecure but, for entirely different reasons. Personally, I don't feel the Gov. is interested in what I'm saying or doing.
Frankly, whether President Bush does this or not doesn't really matter if someone like Hillary Clinton is elected. Do you think she would obey a court ruling? Do you think the press would castigate her for violating citizen rights? Nope. Whether President Bush does this or not, if elected, she will do what she damn well pleases, and ignore the niceties of the Constitution, just like her husband did.
So, since it doesn't matter what precedents President Bush sets, I favor giving him the right to listen in on these calls. In fact, he can listen in on my calls to my daughter, in which we discuss whether or not we will meet for lunch tomorrow. I don't care.
Granting Bush this right does not affect what will happen in the future, except for protecting the nation while he is in office.
Now I must go watch my grandchildren. Any replies from me will be after 6PM Eastern.
You're a libertarian whack job too, I see. Pleased to meet you! Would you like to team up, so we can be beaten up in shifts?
I don't think anyone would be defending it if it were Jimmy Carter or Clinton. I don't trust demorats to have power to do warrantless wiretaps or searches. I don't trust Republicans to have power to do warrantless wiretaps or searches, either.
Is this the Jabara case? If so, it's been cited and dissected.
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