Posted on 02/21/2006 5:46:08 AM PST by Quilla
While White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan was asserting Monday that the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program was a vital tool in the war against terrorism, a panel assembled by the American Civil Liberties Union was arguing that President Bush should be impeached over the spying program.
"If the political alignment in the country were otherwise, impeachment would be a no-brainer," said Laurence H. Tribe, professor of constitutional law at Harvard University.
In December, the New York Times disclosed that President Bush had authorized the NSA to tap international telephone calls that included one party suspected of terrorist activity.
Since that time the program's legality has been debated, especially over whether the president violated the law when he authorized the interception of electronic communications without first obtaining permission from the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court.
Tribe added that wiretapping is not an inherent power of the presidency. "That free flowing inherent power is the very thing we fought a revolution against."
"It violates the basic rules of the road of how you operate," said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the ACLU. "No judge, at any level has signed a warrant for this."
John Dean, a former White House counsel during the Nixon administration, compared the Bush administration's wiretapping to the Watergate scandal. "[Bush] has made such a radical reading of his powers, not unlike Nixon. And those who have operated under his behalf have pursued that policy, so it could well end up where we were at the Nixon White House.
"There is no question in my mind that this president has already committed one or more impeachable offenses. This is pretty serious stuff. It's worse than Watergate."
But the Bush administration has aggressively defended the surveillance program.
"The terrorist surveillance program helps us to connect the dots and save lives and prevent attacks," said McClellan.
"I think most leaders understand that this is not only a necessary tool, but a vital tool in our efforts to disrupt plots and prevent attacks here at home. We will continue to listen to ideas from members of Congress and we will continue to work with them on legislation that would protect this vital program and address some of the issues that have been raised."
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
Heck, that would get at least 10% of the FR vote.
Amazing how the ACLU knows that this program is in violation of the law without knowing anything about the program other than one exist?
You are kidding!!! Did it get closed down?
First, nothing has been adjudicated as illegal, just, an opinion that something may be a high crime or misdemeanor, yet alone a conviction. Second, an impeachment, in the current political climate, should result in a not guilty verdict, setting precedent that the president does have the objected to powers, and, should be counter productive to the oppositions goal, to get Bush.
The implication here is that whenever the opposition party from the president is in charge of the House, we are going to have an impeachment.
The ACLU is a haven for bums.
Exactly.
Tribe well knows the legal distinctions between "pen register" and "trap and trace", and "wiretapping."
The former two - which register communication *transactions* and not *content* - have lower standards of probable cause, do not require judicial warrants, and in fact cannot be prevented by the judiciary. "Wiretapping" rises to much higher legal standards.
Yet Tribe and all Rats consistently (and deliberately) use the term "wiretapping" while having no idea whatsoever whether wiretapping was needed or actually done in this program. Zero. None.
Pretty darned disingenuous.
I wish we had a rule that every time something goes up about the ACLU, the poster must include the quote from Roger Baldwin (founder of the pinko group) where he advocates communist takeover of the world as his ultimate goal. This would help us always have a frame of reference: it is not merely a conservative joke that these people are communist subversives, they really are.
I think this is the one I was thinking of:
I am for socialism, disarmament, and, ultimately, for abolishing the state itself... I seek the social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class, and the sole control of those who produce wealth. Communism is the goal.
The same Lawrence H Tribe who represented Al Gore in legally contesting the presidential election of 2000? The same Lawrence H Tribe who had to make a public apology after committing plagiarism in lifting complete sections of another author's book for his own book? The same Lawrence H Tribe who had aspirations of becoming a nominee for the SCOTUS? Spit.
"Pretty darned disingenuous." Interpretation: "Lying bastards".
I wish they would stop calling them selves the American civil liberties union.
Call them the International Socialist Liberties Union. Truth in advertising.
Please see my post #30.
Thank you.
Thank you for pointing out what a little worm Tribe really is.
The ACLU The Enemy Within need to be destroyed. No other way to say it.
Why didn't the President run taps, etc., though the FISA court? It's my understanding that the law provides for post-facto approval, up to 3 days. I don't debate that it was, and is, necessary to perform the kinds of wiretaps that are described above, but if a court existed to review them, why didn't the administration use it?
Actually, the law is that if any person or group sues and wins a civil rights suit in Federal court, they can then petition the court to award them an amount equal to their legal expenses from taxpayer's money. I'm not clear that the defendant in such a suit has to be an arm of the government. I'm also not clear that the money is local taxes; I think it's Federal tax money.
I recall some Dims talking impeachment in late 2000 or early 2001.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.