I hate to make obvious comments, but there’s something sticking in my throat. Bush, Snow, and Cheney came out swinging at various newspapers for revealing yet another probably-illegal domestic spying without-warrant government program. It’s completely clear that they are doing these things without oversight. No one is questioning that such things have to be done. What is being questioned is doing them without oversight. This just isn’t that hard to grasp.
But that’s not what’s getting to me. It is beyond question that "leaking" sensitive material, N.I.E., Valerie Plame’s identity, is a standard practice of the Administration itself. Valerie Plame was an Undercover C.I.A. Agent who worked on Weapons of Mass Destruction. They leaked her identity, on purpose. They "leaked" all sorts of stuff to Judith Miller for her now infamous prewar NYT articles.
Now they’re out there with their "talking point" of the day, just like before the war – another campaign. They "use" leaks, then decry them. Right now, "leaks" are our only form of oversight. We sent Nixon packing for "campaign dirty tricks." We impeached Clinton for lying about his sex life. Yet we have a standing Administration that orchestrates everything they say around what they want us to think – not what is the truth; selectively "leaks" whatever it takes to manipulate public opinion; and now tries to hide ignoring our laws behind "talking points," "signing agreements," and "national security concerns." In the picture, Bush is saying that this exposure of yet another program without oversight "does great harm to America" in an angry voice doing his finger pointy thing.
I say, "What in the hell are you talking about, Mr. Bush? Just get a warrant and show some judge that there’s probable cause and you can do what you want. We just don’t trust you not to use this kind of power for political purposes – and we have plenty of probable cause to be wary."
This is another one of Lucky Karl’s primo techniques – pre-emptive strikes. Attack the newspapers first, before they attack you. How about explaining why domestic spying of any kind isn’t always under judicial review. It’s called due process. It’s written into our founding documents for a very good reason. That reason is to prevent despotism, fascism, and any other kind of -ism.
This Administration wanted a regime change in Iraq because Saddam Hussein was a dangerous Despot. They wanted to spead Democracy to Iraq. And they’re behaving like Despots and ignoring Democracy.
Enough already…
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