Special Counsel 2
Mr. Gore has called for a special counsel to investigate Mr. Bush’s spying:
Yeah. Fat Chance.
Even given the “Fat Chance” factor, the Republican National Committee fell back on what they do best:
Character assassination:
To: National Desk
Contact: Republican National Committee Press Office, 202-863-8614
WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 /U.S. Newswire/ — Following is the RNC response to today’s speech by Al Gore:
“Al Gore’s incessant need to insert himself in the headline of the day is almost as glaring as his lack of understanding of the threats facing America. While the President works to protect Americans from terrorists, Democrats deliver no solutions of their own, only diatribes laden with inaccuracies and anger.” –Tracey Schmitt, RNC Press Secretary
Mr. Gore has hardly demonstrated an incessant neet to insert himself in the headline of the day
And he is an ex-Senator and the person who out-polled Mr. Bush in the popular vote in 2000. When someone invites him to give a speech, there is nothing wrong with his giving a speech. Sheesh.
Gore Joins MoveOn.Org In Attacking Administration On Wiretapping:
Former Vice President Al Gore: “(T)he President Of The United States Has Been Breaking The Law Repeatedly And Insistently. A President Who Breaks The Law Is A Threat To The Very Structure Of Our Government.” (Fmr. Vice President Al Gore, Address To American Constitution Society And The Liberty Coalition, Washington D.C., 1/16/06)
— Gore: “(T)he American Values We Hold Most Dear Have Been Placed At Serious Risk By The Unprecedented Claims Of The Administration To A Truly Breathtaking Expansion Of Executive Power.” (Fmr. Vice President Al Gore, Address To American Constitution Society And The Liberty Coalition, Washington D.C., 1/16/06)
And this has just what to do with Mr. Bush’s arrogating imperial power to himself and his minions?
Once Upon A Time, Gore Talked Tough About Cracking Down On Terrorists:
In 1999, Vice President Gore Declared: “Hear Me Well – We Will Fight The Reckless Violence Of Terrorism And We Will Never Yield To Terrorism, Ever.” (Joe Carroll, “Clinton Exhorts Parties to Surmount Last Hurdle,” The Irish Times, 3/18/99)
At A 1996 Counter-Terrorism Event Gore Said: “The Bottom Line Is That President Clinton And I And The Members Of This Commission Have Pledged To The Families Of The Victims Of Terrorism That We’re Going To Take The Strongest Measures Possible To Reduce The Risk Of Another Tragedy In The Future.” (Al Gore, White House Briefing, 9/5/96)
And data-mining the communications of Americans without warrants has what to do with fighting terrorism which originates off-shore?
Clinton/Gore Administration Used Warrantless Searches:
Clinton Administration Deputy Attorney General Jamie S. Gorelick: “(T)he Department Of Justice Believes, And The Case Law Supports, That The President Has Inherent Authority To Conduct Warrantless Physical Searches For Foreign Intelligence Purposes And That The President May, As Has Been Done, Delegate This Authority To The Attorney General.” (Deputy Attorney General Jamie S. Gorelick, Permanent Select Committee On Intelligence, U.S. House Of Representatives, Testimony, 7/14/94)
In 1994, President Clinton Expanded The Use Of Warrantless Searches To Entirely Domestic Situations With No Foreign Intelligence Value Whatsoever. In A Radio Address Promoting A Crime- Fighting Bill, Mr. Clinton Discussed A New Policy To Conduct Warrantless Searches In Highly Violent Public Housing Projects.” (Charles Hurt, “‘Warrantless’ Searches Not Unprecedented,” The Washington Times, 12/22/05)
“One Of The Most Famous Examples Of Warrantless Searches In Recent Years Was The Investigation Of CIA Official Aldrich H. Ames, Who Ultimately Pleaded Guilty To Spying For The Former Soviet Union. That Case Was Largely Built Upon Secret Searches Of Ames’ Home And Office In 1993, Conducted Without Federal Warrants.” (Charles Hurt, “‘Warrantless’ Searches Not Unprecedented,” The Washington Times, 12/22/05)
President Bill Clinton: “(T)he Attorney General Is Authorized To Approve Physical Searches, Without A Court Order, To Acquire Foreign Intelligence Information For Periods Of Up To One Year …” (President Bill Clinton, Executive Order 12949, “Foreign Intelligence Physical Searches,” 2/9/95)
Lie. But what else can one expect from these folks?
Meanwhile, Polling Shows Americans Support President Bush’s Decision On Wire Tapping:
“(A Rasmussen Reports Survey Found) Sixty-Four Percent (64 percent) Of Americans Believe The National Security Agency (NSA) Should Be Allowed To Intercept Telephone Conversations Between Terrorism Suspects In Other Countries And People Living In The United States … Just 23 percent Disagree.” (Rasmussen Reports’ Web site, http://www.rasmussenreports.com, Accessed 1/6/06)
— Eighty-One Percent (81 percent) Of Republicans Believe The NSA Should Be Allowed To Listen In On Conversations Between Terror Suspects And People Living In The United States. That View Is Shared By 51 percent Of Democrats …” (Rasmussen Reports’ Web site, http://www.rasmussenreports.com, Accessed 1/6/06)
Spin:
Fifty percent (50%) of Americans say the President did not break the law.
This result is also consistent with earlier data showing that just 26% believe that President Bush is the first to authorize a program allowing the NSA to intercept phone calls between suspected terrorists and U.S. citizens.
The FISA Court Does Not Provide Flexibility Needed To Fight The War On Terrorism:
President Bush: “(T)he (9/11) Commission Criticized Our Nation’s Inability To Uncover Links Between Terrorists Here At Home And Terrorists Abroad. Two Of The Terrorist Hijackers Who Flew A Jet Into The Pentagon, Nawaf Al Hamzi And Khalid Al Mihdhar, Communicated While They Were In The United States To Other Members Of Al Qaeda Who Were Overseas.” (President Bush, Radio Address, Washington, D.C., 12/17/05)
— 9/11 Commission Report: “On January 15, (2000) Hazmi And Mihdhar Arrived In Los Angeles. … After The Pair Cleared Immigration And Customs At Los Angeles International Airport, We Do Not Know Where They Went. … We Do Not Pick Up Their Trail Until February 1, 2000 …” (“Final Report Of The National Commission On Terrorist Attacks Upon The United States,” The 9/11 Commission Report, 7/22/04)
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales: “The Operators Out At NSA Tell Me That We Don’t Have The Speed And The Agility That We Need, In All Circumstances, To Deal With This New Kind Of Enemy. You Have To Remember That FISA Was Passed By The Congress In 1978. There Have Been Tremendous Advances In Technology … Since Then.” (Attorney General Gonzales, Press Conference, 12/19/05)
The Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol: “Remember Moussaoui? Remember August 2001? The FBI Wanted To Go To The FISA Court To Get Surveillance Capabilities Based On What They Found On His Computer, And The Justice Department Decided No. Now, The Patriot Act Did Not Change That Standard Of FISA …” (Fox News’ “Fox News Sunday,” 12/18/05)
— Kristol: “I Wish Bill Clinton Had Done This. I Wish We Had Tapped The Phones Of The People Of Mohammed Atta Here Into The United States If We Discovered Phone Calls From Afghanistan To Him. That Was Why 9/11 Happened. That’s What Connecting The Dots Is.” (Fox News’ “Fox News Sunday,” 12/18/05)
— 9/11 Commission Report: “The Agents In Minnesota Were Concerned That The U.S. Attorney’s Office In Minneapolis Would Find Insufficient Probable Cause Of A Crime To Obtain A Criminal Warrant To Search Moussaoui’s Laptop Computer. Agents At FBI Headquarters Believed There Was Insufficient Probable Cause. Minneapolis Therefore Sought A Special Warrant Under The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act To Conduct The Search … FBI Headquarters Did Not Believe This Was Good Enough, And Its National Security Law Unit Declined To Submit A FISA Application.” (“Final Report Of The National Commission On Terrorist Attacks Upon The United States,” The 9/11 Commission Report, 7/22/04)
Note that all that is quoted above are opinions. Not once are the provisions of the FISA law cited. Under those provisions, eavesdropping can be initiated without a warrant and the government has 72 hours in which to seek a warrant–and those applications for warrants are almost never turned down.
Bush Administration’s Wiretapping Authorization Has Been Successful:
“Officials Have Privately Credited The Eavesdropping With The Apprehension Of Lyman Faris, A Truck Driver Who Pleaded Guilty In 2003 To Planning To Blow Up The Brooklyn Bridge.” (Peter Baker, “President Says He Ordered NSA Domestic Spying,” The Washington Post, 12/18/05)
Is that the truth, or is this the truth?
With Bush, you can never tell, now, can you?
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Paid for by the Republican National Committee. http://www.gop.com.
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http://www.usnewswire.com/
Lie, spin, lie, spin, lie, lie, spin. The Bush Frug.
January 16, 2006 at 9:33 pm
“And data-mining the communications of Americans without warrants has what to do with fighting terrorism which originates off-shore?”
The first nuclear weapon used against the US will probably be built right here in the US, with the plot orchestrated overseas.
January 17, 2006 at 8:50 pm
And, if something’s afoot, the guv’mint should have no trouble getting a FISA warrant.
The plain truth is that this bunch just doesn’t want to be troubled by having to obey even the most lenient law. They just want to do what they want, when they want to do it, without any accountability.
If what they are doing is right, they wouldn’t have to lie so much.
I’ll do what I try, with spotty success, not to do, quote from another, quite political blog:
The president’s critics are always accusing him of law-breaking or unconstitutional acts and then also berating the incompetence of his governance. And it’s often treated as, well … he’s power-hungry and incompetent to boot! Imagine that! The point though is that they are directly connected. Authoritarianism and secrecy breed incompetence; the two feed on each other. It’s a vicious cycle. Governments with authoritarian tendencies point to what is in fact their own incompetence as the rationale for giving them yet more power. Katrina was a good example of this.
(Courtesy of Suburban Guerrilla)