Text 17724, 87 rader
Skriven 2006-02-06 10:47:39 av John Hull (1:123/789.0)
  Kommentar till text 17723 av John Massey (1:123/789.0)
Ärende: SPYING ON AMERICANS
===========================
John Massey -> All wrote:
 JM> SPYING ON AMERICANS"



 JM> I'm still on the fence over this so-called "domestic spying" controversy.
 JM> Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez will be testifying today on Capitol Hill
 JM> before the Senate Judiciary Committee.  He's going to tell the committee
 JM> that the President's secret surveillance program was necessary and lawful.
 JM> Necessary?  Perhaps so.  Lawful?  I'm not convinced.  I'm a strong
 JM> proponent
 JM> of the rule of law, and the very essence of that concept is that those who
 JM> wield political power over us, those who are legally entitled to use force
 JM> to accomplish their goals, must abide by the very same laws that controls
 JM> the actions of the most obscure American.

 JM> One troubling aspect of this controversy is that the left and the media
are
 JM> using it more as a weapon to beat Bush about the head and shoulders. 
There
 JM> is a legitimate question here.  Does the president have the power to
bypass
 JM> basic judicial procedures when the country is at war and national security
 JM> concerns are involved?  It's a good question.  Wouldn't it be nice if we
 JM> could seek the answer without the partisanship?  Bush isn't the first
 JM> president, nor the first Republican to engage in these actions.

 JM> One more thing.  I note that the media is very fond of categorizing the
NSA
 JM> surveillance program as "spying on Americans."  That definition is
 JM> technically correct, but certainly not the most accurate way to describe
 JM> what's going on.  The real description would be "spying on America's
 JM> enemies
 JM> talking to American citizens."  A better definition would be one used by
 JM> the
 JM> attorney general.  These wiretaps are not so much "spying on Americans" as
 JM> they are "intercepting enemy communications."  Maybe that's just too many
 JM> words for a headline.

 JM> We'll wrap this with a question for you ... a question especially for
those
 JM> of you who are adamantly opposed to the NAS surveillance program.
 JM> Actually,
 JM> two questions.

 JM> 1.  Do you think that it is OK for our intelligence agencies to monitor
 JM> enemy communications while we're at war?

 JM> 2.  If you think that it is OK to listen to enemy communications, do you
 JM> ten
 JM> withdraw your approval if the enemy happens to be communicating with an
 JM> American citizen?

 JM> Bonus question:  Are you able to put aside your partisanship and/or Bush
 JM> hatred long enough to consider the above two questions fairly?

 JM> Neal Boortz

To answer Neal's two questions succinctly: Absolutely, and Absolutely Not!

It is the height of stupidity and arrogance for those screaming for Bush's head
over this in the midst of a global war on terror.  The liberals (and a few
Republicans who ought to know better) who have exposed this surveillance in the
press have done serious and long-lasting damage to our ability to prosecute the
job required of the NSA.  Aided and abetted by the media, those who ascribe to
the get-Bush-at-any-cost method of doing things are putting American troops,
American diplomats, and American citizens here at home in harm's way.
They simply don't care what damage is done to this country in their insane
attempts to bring down the Bush administration.

And on top of it all, the hypocrisy of those in the Democrat Party, and US
Senate Democrats on this is astounding.  To hear Harry Reid tell it, all this
stuff they accuse the NSA of doing happened without their knowledge or consent.
 Reid and his cohorts are liars, plain and simple. General Hayden, head of NSA,
stated categorically yesterday on FoxNewsSunday that not only had Congress and
the Senate been regularly briefed on what was going on, but when NSA pressed
them on possibly making changes to the law that would've required MORE
reporting to Congress, they were told "NO" by the Senate, because it would draw
too much attention to the program and hamper their ability to gather
intelligence.

The liberals who have jumped on this get-Bush bandwagon will rue the day they
spread this across the world's media stage. And I will be happy to see that day
arrive.

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