I am Not a Crook. . . er Dictator

December 20, 2005

On December 19, 2005, Bush held a press conference announcing he authorized the U.S. Government to spy on American citizens and went on to firmly say what he did was legal according to the constitution and laws passed by Congress. Part of what he said was:

“As president of the United States and commander-in-chief I have the constitutional responsibility and the constitutional authority to protect our country.”

And also said

“To say ‘unchecked power’ basically is ascribing some kind of dictatorial position to the president, which I strongly reject.” ;  “I am doing what you expect me to do, and at the same time, safeguarding the civil liberties of the country.”

Sounds like he is a bit sensitive to some who might call him a dictator and wanted to bring it up right away.  Well, it sounds like he is a dictator and we should thank Bush for pointing this out so clearly.

After the press conference, the United States Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales said Congress had given Bush the authority to spy on Americans by legislation it passed after 911. But, later in the day, the White House admitted Bush was wrong to state there was a specific a law that authorized his domestic spying and also said the current judicial process was too cumbersome so he had to circumvent the law.  Convoluted justifications will not protect Bush as he thinks; they also sound like an admission of guilt on his part.

Relying on the Constitution for justification for broad war powers is dependent on a “constitutional war” which is a war officially declared by Congress and not one which simply authorizes force. The current Wars on Terrorism, Iraq and Afghanistan are not constitutional and Bush has no broad constitutional powers as he claims. Nixon made the same claim decades ago and he illegal activities were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

He would have more power, if Congress had declared war on Afghanistan, and then tied all war activities to it, including the War on Terror. Bush was advised to do this after 911 but he ignored good advice and now he is in trouble.

Further, federal laws are clear. Bush cannot spy on Americans and to do so, is unlawful. Laws criminalizing domestic spying were passed after Nixon spied on Americans during the Vietnam War.

Before the New York Times published the circumstances about his illegal activities he asked the Times publisher, Arthur Sulzberger and the executive editor, Bill Keller to immediately stop the article's publication. To emphasize his point, he called them over to the White House for a face-to-face meeting. Bush's strong arm request was not to safeguard the United States but to protect himself and his Republican co-conspirators from the truth and the consequences.

Still, Bush talked tough at the press conference and said he wouldn't stop spying. He seemed like a dictator and wasn't a bit ashamed of it. His arrogant attitude was, “What are you going to do about it?”

Sounds Nixon-like and dictatorial.

Bush said he advised certain Congressional members of what he was doing so this validated his criminal actions.  Nonsense. The checks and balances is the court, but he ignored it.  When Bush met with the senators, he knew, due to secrecy restrictions, they could not say anything about what he was doing, whether they agreed with him or not. Sounds like a dictator.

Incredibly, Bush went on to say at the conference, leaking the nature of his criminal activities was "shameful" and said:

“It was a shameful act for someone to disclose this important program in a time of war. The fact that we’re discussing this program is helping the enemy.”

The enemy here is Bush who is directly taking way our constitutional rights by ignoring existing laws and through the Patriot Act up for renewal. Our enemies couldn’t be happier to see this. They are effectively destroying our democracy using the very leaders sworn to protect it.

Bush, being a sneak and criminal, could have spied on Americans legally, using an existing court available 24/7 but he didn’t do that. He could have even tapped phone lines and THEN told the court within three days. But he didn’t do that either.  As usual, had to take things into his own hands and in doing so, scrapped the Constitution. Only a dictator throws out basic democratic protections and sees nothing wrong with this.

Bush thinks he is above the law like Nixon decades ago.  The bottom-line, he is not.