Spying on Americans

The neocons tell me it's wrong to question the government's spying. "Anything they do to fight terrorism is OK," they tell me. The Bush administration has concluded that the FISA Court isn't sufficient. Even though the court has approved virtually every wiretap request it has received (the court was created in 1978) and even though the court's rules allow a president to order an emergency wiretap on his authority and then to present supporting evidence to the court within 72 hours, Bush and his cronies felt that wasn't adequate.

That frightens me. It should frighten you, even if you're a Bush supporter.

The problem is that Bush is creating precedent. If this is allowed to continue, then Bush and any future president will be allowed to order wiretaps at will. Would those who support today's excesses by the Bush camp be happy to see these procedures used by President Kerry, President Gore, or President Clinton? I suspect that they would not. The difference between them and me is that I would oppose this kind of activity by President Gore, President Kerry, or President Clinton ("my" presidents) while they feel that anything "their" president does is moral, ethical, legal, and approved by the one true God.

The FISA Court was established to create minimal safeguards for Americans to avoid the abuses the Nixon administration perpetrated. Why does George War Bush feel that he can trample even these minimal safeguards? If he's unwilling to provide the FISA Court with justifications for his wiretap orders, might that justification be missing? Is it possible that Bush, his brain (Rove), and his keeper (Cheney) have created a Nixonian enemies list? (If so, I'm certainly on it.)

Why can't this administration, which claims to be for strict interpretation of the Constitution, abide by the Constitution?

Oh, by the way – if you believe that I think wiretaps and spying should be eliminated entirely, you're absolutely and completely wrong. The government has the right and the duty to protect Americans. But is also has the duty to abide by the Constitution and the laws passed by Congress.

We have a president, not a king, and presidents are not above the law.