If you believe the memo's hysterical characterization of the dangers posed by al Queda, you might want to believe that the memo describes what the law actually is. But, before you go there, ask yourself this question: If the memo is right, is there anything that is forbidden to the President? If the memo is right, the only constraints are those of the President's own conscience. The memo relies heavily on this, arguing that the eavesdropping is reasonable because it is confined to contacts with persons having links to al Queda. One might justifiably be skeptical of such a claim. But even if is true, that is simply a limitation that the President has imposed on himself. Given the legal rationale advanced, there is nothing that does or could require him to observe such a limitation. He can, quite literally, do whatever he wants, at least so long as he can say that it has some bearing on the war on terror. That, to me, would be a scary proposition even if I had a great deal of confidence in the conscience of this particular President (which I do not, of course). However, even if you do, think about this: we are, if this memo gets accepted, establishing a precedent -- in fact a Constitutional principle -- that works as well for all subsequent Presidents as it does for Bush. Just think of the fun that Nixon -- to say nothing of a President along the Joe McCarthy lines -- would have with that.
There is one obvious irony in this that I cannot help but note. The very people who excoriate courts for finding individual rights in the "penumbras" formed by the Constitution's explicit provisions have no problem at all granting to the government vast powers that appear nowhere in the literal language of the Constitution. Reproduced below, for your reading pleasure, is Article II of the Constitution, in its entirely. As you will see, it has but three sentences that have even the remotest connection to this dispute. They are in red. Two of these are referred to frequently in the memo; the third is ignored. If any of you find in these three sentences an intention to grant to the President the sorts of powers he now claims to be so far "inherent" in his office that any act of Congress impinging on those rights would be unconstitutional, please let me know.
Article. II.
Section 1.
The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows:
Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representatives from each State having one Vote; a quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President.
The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.
No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.
The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.
Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:--''I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.''
Section 2.
The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.
He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.
Section 3.
He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information on the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.
Section 4.
The President, Vice President and all Civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
5 comments:
Apparently one of Bush's cronies, may have been Rumsfeld (I don't recall exactly who it was) said that their party thinks if Al Queda is talking to someone in the US, we should be listening. I may be wrong, but I think any judge in the country would grant permission in this case. What "the other party" thinks, is that Bush alone should not make the call - he needs to prove to a judge that it's Al Queda first.
Yep. That's it in a nutshell. No one is trying to preclude the Administration from intercepting communications by or among al Queda operatives (or even people the government has "probable cause" to believe are such operatives). What they are saying is that there needs to be a 3rd party review of the factual basis for the interception.
A couple of comments here...
Last night Gonzales was on NPR defending this practice and essentially said, it would have been too hard to use the FISA court procedure (which allows retroactive authorization for a wire-tap within 72 hours), since they would have had to get opinions from 12 different levels of government before seeking the retroactive authorization? Wait, isn't that exactly the point of the court's procedures, to ensure this is a well-thought decision reserved for extreme emergencies?! I encourage you to listen to the full interview at npr's website--it was very well done:http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5170875
He is slick, if lacking in any legal credibility.
I can't express how much this issue just blows my mind. In my (humble) opinion, this all comes down to greed. These people are so greedy. Greedy for power, greedy for money, greedy for land, greedy for oil. Every single mis-step they take can be reduced to that simply Deadly Sin. I just find it scary how effectively they rationalize their greedy actions after the fact. And it is all the more shocking coming from a President who claims to be such a die-hard Christian. Since when is Greed a Christian virtue?
I guess I'll have to wait until I get home to listen to it. "Websense" doesn't like streaming anything.
In terms of the Deadly Sins, I tend to lean more toward pride (arrogance) as the root cause. It's not so much that they want the things you list. Rather it's the fact that they think they are entitled to all of them, that they are answerable to no one and that they are entitled to do whatever they want whenever they want. Still, even if I am right, your last question is a good one even on that score.
Ok. I take your general point. But the lawyer in me compels me to point out that "righteousness" isn't a sin, much less a deadly one. Self- righteousness (or more accurately sanctimony) might be, but it is a sin rooted in arrogance (pride). Thus, if we are talking the seven deadly sins, I continue to think that, as a group, the failings of the Administration arise primarily from pride. However, for W himself, I somethimes think sloth runs a close second. "Thinking is such hard work," he says.
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