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Bush’s admitted bypass of courts is disturbing
During President Bush’s Monday press conference, he championed the rule of law for Iraq while maintaining that he has the right to ignore the wishes of Congress in this country.
The president’s justification seems to be stating that he has the authority to do what he believes is necessary to protect the American people. Yet in the next breath, he says the Patriot Act is vital for U.S. security, and calls on the Senate to stop its “delaying tactic” and vote to reauthorize the act that was passed in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C.
“It is inexcusable for the U.S. Senate to let this Patriot Act expire,” the president said.
We wonder why that is. If the president plans to continue operating outside of limits set by Congress, why does he need the Patriot Act?
The president labeled the New York Times’ exposure of the White House’s secret spying on people inside the United States “shameful.” In our opinion, the Times may well have acted irresponsibly, but not in the way the president is implying.
As journalists, we are appalled that the Times sat on information – that the Bush White House was conducting domestic spying operations without the judicial oversight mandated by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 – for a year.
Why did the Times hold the story? Because the administration asked them to in the interests of national security. A year later – last week – the Times found a way to publish the information without details that might jeopardize national interests.
Four decades ago, the Times learned of the planned Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba. The Kennedy White House also asked the newspaper to hold that story, again for reasons of national security.
Yet with a military action ready to be launched, the Times reported the upcoming 1961 invasion anyway. So why keep the fact that this administration had decided to disregard the FISA court from the American people?
The Times’ report obviously made a huge impression on members of the Senate – the story effectively derailed renewal of the Patriot Act.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), a member of Bush’s own party, has pledged open hearings on the matter, and we hope Specter delivers on that promise.
We have been down this road before with a president (Richard Nixon) who fancied himself more like a king in the sense that he acted as though he were above the law.
It’s also a familiar path for the current president. Saying there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq did not make it so. By the same token, hearing Mr. Bush declare that he has the authority to authorize domestic spying does not make it legal.
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