Psyche, Science, and Society

Spying illegal. It’s that simple!

January 29th, 2006

A New York Times editorial today:

A bit over a week ago, President Bush and his men promised to provide the legal, constitutional and moral justifications for the sort of warrantless spying on Americans that has been illegal for nearly 30 years. Instead, we got the familiar mix of political spin, clumsy historical misinformation, contemptuous dismissals of civil liberties concerns, cynical attempts to paint dissents as anti-American and pro-terrorist, and a couple of big, dangerous lies.

The first was that the domestic spying program is carefully aimed only at people who are actively working with Al Qaeda, when actually it has violated the rights of countless innocent Americans. And the second was that the Bush team could have prevented the 9/11 attacks if only they had thought of eavesdropping without a warrant.

Regarding cliams that the spying was legal:

The secret program violates the law as currently written. It’s that simple.

One might imagine that congressional Democrats would speak, think, and act so clearly. But one would then be imagining that the delusional fantasy that there was an opposition party in this country bore some resemblence to reality.

Of course, the New York Times editorial ends with its own delusional fantasy:

The Senate Judiciary Committee is about to start hearings on the domestic spying. Congress has failed, tragically, on several occasions in the last five years to rein in Mr. Bush and restore the checks and balances that are the genius of American constitutional democracy. It is critical that it not betray the public once again on this score.

No Congressional “hearings” in this climate will stop this gang. At best, they will simply say they will stop their nefarious activities and continue in secret as if nothing has happened. To get a sense of how these guys operate, see the new Newsweek article: Palace Revolt: They were loyal conservatives, and Bush appointees. They fought a quiet battle to rein in the president’s power in the war on terror. And they paid a price for it.

Nothing short of mass popular mobilization will stop the drift toward dictatorship. The President, who claims absolute powers, would accept no less.

Entry Filed under: Rights and Liberties, Terrorism