Bush | Hitler ... Please spot the difference
US Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez sent this helpful letter letter to Bill Frist on January 19, 2006. Quoted in its entirety:
The Honorable William H. Frist
Majority Leader
United States Senate
Washington. D.C. 205 10
Dear Mr. Leader:
As the President recently described, in response to the attacks of September 11th, he has authorized the National Security Agency (NSA) to intercept international communications into or out of the United States of persons linked to al Qaeda or an affiliated terrorist organization. The attached paper has been prepared by the Department of Justice to provide a detailed analysis of the legal basis for those NSA activities dcscribcd by the President.
As I have previously explained, these NSA activities are lawful in all respects. They represent a vital effort by the President to ensure that we have in place an early warning system to detect and prevent another catastrophic terrorist attack on America. In the ongoing armed conflict with al Qaeda and its allies, the President has the primary duty under the Constitution to protect the American people. The Constitution gives the President thc full authority necessary to carry out that solemn duty, and he has made clear that he will use all authority available to him. consistent with the law, to protect the Nation. The President's authority to approve these NSA activities is confirmed and supplemented by Congress in the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), enacted on Septembcr 18, 2001. As discussed in depth in the attached paper, the President's use of his constitutional authority, as supplemented by statute in the AUMF, is consistent with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and is also fully protective of the civil liberties guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment.
It is my hope that this paper will prove helpful to your understanding of the legal authorities underlying the NSA activities described by the President.
What this means as far as this non lawyer can tell is that the Pres. will do whatever he wants ... after all who is going to rein him in ? Certainly not Congress.
2 comments:
The only difference between Bush and Hitler is that Hitler was fluent in his native language.
The almost certain confirmation of Alito to the Supreme Court brings the US a step closer to outright fascism. Although much on the Alito opposition has been focued on the abortion issue, the real problem is Alito's support for the idea of the "unitary executive", i.e., an omnipotent Ruler. See The Unitary Executive: Is The Doctrine Behind the Bush Presidency Consistent with a Democratic State?" for more information.
This process has been underway since the 1970's (see Bertram Gross, Friendly Fascism) and is now being brought to a head. The US is facing a true constitutional crisis and the outlook is poor.
Gore Vidal reminds us ...The British historian Charles Freeman published an extended discussion of the transition that took place during the late Roman empire, the title of which could serve as a capsule summary of our current president: "The Closing of the Western Mind." Mr. Bush, God knows, is no Augustine; but Freeman points to the latter as the epitome of a more general process that was underway in the fourth century: namely, ‘the gradual subjection of reason to faith and authority.’ This is what we are seeing today, and it is a process that no society can undergo and still remain free.
Gradual is not a term I would use to describe the slide into fascism.
repeatedly the Administration just assert everything is legal...see Bishs washroom assistant re rendition ...everything is done within the law...etc., etc.,
When you have the scatalogical scourings of the legals minds of Yoo and Gonzalez to reinforce your arguments literally anything is OK.
The German judiciary after the Reichstag fire either buckled under or fled the country.
Topical Joke... The Austrians are really smart, they got the world to believe that Hitler ws german and Mozart was Austrian.
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