The sycophant mainstream media pick up the spoon-fed Republican spin that it was about national security. They fail to ask the big question. What the hell were you doing violating federal laws against non-court-authorized spying? If the nation was in danger, why couldn't you get court authorization? Why did you use the NSA to spy illegally. Why not use legal agencies that have conventional rules, oversight and protections?
But these pathetic media pawns, these stenographic transmitters of the right wings lying spin didn't ask any of these obvious questions. Or they gently offered them and let Bush's evasions pass.
That leaves the alternative media to ask the questions. And we can ask the right questions. The problem is, we don't get to ask Bush, or the NSA, or the criminal congressmen who he told, who abetted if not collaborated in his crime.
But at least we are taking a shot at seeking the truth. At least we are concerned about the truth and about the law and about the safety and future of American democracy.
Somehow, this insane situation can not stand. Bush broke the law. His confidant congressional partners in crime also broke the law. They cannot spin their way out of this one. They cannot block an investigation. The chronically spineless, ineffectual Democrats are going to have to get off their asses and take this one. Russ Feingold did it. He got up in congress and expressed his outrage. And enough senators, including Republicans, who, perhaps have begun to wake to see that they have been supporting a stupid, lying, idiot criminal, got together to block the continuation of the patriot act.
They told Bush to go f*ck himself. They sent a message tp the neocons that their "protecting the nation from terrorism" line is a pile of bullshit. And that was huge. But it is not enough. The lying idiot is still in the Whitehouse, still running the spy ops.
Alberto Gonzalez claims that the congress's authorization to go to war gives Bush the right to engage in spying, to "engage in signal intelligence."
It is time for the congress to make it clear that Bush was NEVER, not EVER authorized to spy, that the authorization to go to war was not a blank check.
We need to raise our voices, get out on the streets, holler bloody murder and make it clear to our elected representatives that we don't accept Gonzalez's half-assed, bullshit explanation of Bush's criminal actions.
We need to ask our legislators who voted to give Bush permission to go to war if they intended to give him permission to spy on Americans, violating our laws.
Write to your elected legislators. Write to your local paper. Demand that they clearly pass a bill that makes it clear that Bush does not and never had the right to spy on Americans and break clearly defined laws.
Remember, this is not about security. Even in an emergency, spying can be ordered and then, shortly afterward, a court order can be obtained to cover it. There is NO EXCUSE for spying without court authorization. There is every reason to believe that the only reason this would be done was because Bush had something to hide, that he was doing things that US courts would not allow. This is totally intolerable. At the least, contact your legislators and local paper. If we don't act on this one, we are lost.
