Cheney resistant to change in U.S. spy program

[sabra]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N07243787.htm

Cheney resistant to change in U.S. spy program


WASHINGTON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney on Tuesday resisted bipartisan appeals for changes in a hotly disputed warrantless eavesdropping program, saying he believed "we have all the legal authority we need."

...

"We believe... that we have all the legal authority we need," Cheney said.

...

Cheney said he was concerned that additional legislation on the issue would disclose the program in a way that would possibly damage it.

"I think it's important for us if we're going to proceed legislatively to keep in mind that there's a price to be paid for that and it might well in fact do irreparable damage to our capacity to collect this information," he said.

Cheney also said some congressional critics were changing their tune on the program now that it was public. When they were briefed privately on the classified program, they had been supportive, he said.

[MadMaddie]

1. Cheney can go Cheney himself...

:nuke:

[Tight_rope]

14. I second that "FUCK YOU" to Dick Cheney!

[JuniperLea]

2. Seems "they" or "he"

believes much more than is comparable to the truth as written in law... including The Constitution...

Bush believed he needed a warrant... at some point anyway. He reiterated it in person, now on video that can be seen all over the "internets".

[Mithras61]

6. Who needs the Constitution...

or to follow laws when you're the Dicktator?

:)

[Webster Green]

3. The Big Dick........... interviewed from Top Secret bunker....

....in an undisclosed location.

Cheney is a much bigger threat to us than Al Queda, that's for sure.

[maryallen]

21. Brave MF'er, isn't he?

How many deferments did you have, Dickie?

[Mithras61]

4. Faith-based spying...

"We believe... that we have all the legal authority we need," Cheney said.

Until a court says so, you don't have the authority. The 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was specifically put in place to address this sort of nonsense, and you have violated that law as well as the Fourth Amendment protections in the Constitution. By your own admissions you have "accidentally" spied on Americans (although you sometimes claim otherwise) and your administration has several programs aside from the NSA wiretapping program that ALSO violate these acts & protections (like the Pentagon's little foray into spying on Quakers, amongst others), and you & all of your henchmen need to go directly to jail! (do not pass go, do not collect $200).

[UpInArms]

9. I could not have said it better Mithras61!

I will add this:

Just because Heartless Dick "believes" something does not make it true.

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. If they'd vote differently in private, than they would in public, it means

that they knew something was wrong with it.

[K-W]

7. Beyond imagination. EOM

[DELUSIONAL]

8. The filth will see the light of day

This thing is that they are spying on anyone -- mostly their political enemies. Since they can't spy on everyone and they keep firing translators (mostly because the translators are gay) -- they have to stick to spying on English speaking targets.

[Mithras61]

10. Article II of the Constitution...

For those who haven't had a chance to look it up:

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 choose 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 choose the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation 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 choose from them by ballot the Vice President.

The Congress may determine the time of choosing 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 increased 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 offenses 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 of 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.

I believe the BFEE are referring to Section 2 as the source of their authority, but if you grant them the right to violate the Constitution based on their claims that they need to to properly conduct the "War on Terror^TM" then all they need to ever do is claim that the Pretzeldent is acting as Commander in Chief and any wrongdoing immediately ceases to be prosecutable. I don't see anywhere in the Constitution that it says that the President or the Executive Branch are not subject to the law of the land...

[JudyM]

11. Hard to change a calcified smirk, too, if you don't have to.

[Whoa_Nelly]

12. Hey! I'm Cheney Resistant!

That's why I'm a donating member of DU :thumbsup:

[Eurobabe]

13. Cheney resistant to antibiotics

n/t

[onehandle]

15. Spying on who? Us? No surprise. nt

[gulliver]

16. Its "mens rea." He's caught, so he has to pretend that he ...

... thinks he did nothing wrong. If he did it knowing it was wrong, he would obviously be in trouble.

I love the way he doesn't say that what he did was within the law or legal. He says they have "legal authority" (whether it is breaking the law meant for everyone else or not).

[laylah]

17. What a SICK F*CK! n/t

[HuffleClaw]

18. reverting to their catch-all excuse, 'security reasons'

funny how they want to be so secretive about everything that might be damaging to them. you'd think they'd WANT a law to cover their ass.

[wordpix2]

19. just saw this on Olbermann, more coming up NOW, 8:24 ET

Dickhead basically says, "Fuck you," to the American people. "We don't need your friggin laws or the Constitution, either."

[0007]

20. The Dick is irreparable damage and must be thrown out of

office. In fact he should be arrested for war crimes and sent to the Hague.