5.11.2006

Can Bush Screw Up Any More?

Doubtful. The man constantly finds new ways to screw things up and piss me off.

Just when you think that all of your civil liberties have been stripped, one more thing GeeDub has done comes bubbling to the top of the ole stink-pot. Massive NSA wiretapping of American phone calls.

The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
...
"It's the largest database ever assembled in the world," said one person, who, like the others who agreed to talk about the NSA's activities, declined to be identified by name or affiliation. The agency's goal is "to create a database of every call ever made" within the nation's borders, this person added.

And once again, Bush defends these tremendously unconstitutional actions due to "wartime powers" given to him by the post-9/11 congressional resolution authorizing him to use "all necessary and appropriate force against those responsible." Question - how is this using force against terrorists? It seems like only Americans have been affected by your illegal spying!

Harold Koh, dean of the Yale Law School and author of The National Security Constitution, called the scope of the database "shocking."

"If they had gone to Congress and said, 'We want to do this without probable cause, without warrants and without judicial review,' it never would have been approved," said Koh, a former law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun. "I don't think any FISA court would have approved this kind of scale of activity."

I can't help but wonder if Russ Feingold's censure proposal might pick up a little steam once again? I for one would support it (and I'd support this, too).

posted by brian at 5:29 PM | Permalink

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