Public Inexcusably Tolerant of Bush’s Law-Breaking

[Wind Dancer]

-snip-

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court received 1,758 applications for surveillance permission in 2004, and denied four of these requests. One of the four was resubmitted and approved by the court, and the government withdrew the other three. To quote the annual FISA report, "The court did not deny in whole or in part any application submitted by the government in 2004."

Still, the Bush administration seems resentful of having to ask for a second opinion. This petulant president is so enamored of his 37 percent approval rating that he feels empowered to proceed with any idea, legal or not, absent any of the checks and balances that were imposed on the office of the presidency in the beginning of the republic. If only for the flouting of the Constitution, regardless of the other facts of the case, the president’s impeachment should be considered.

This arrogant administration is so assured of its own righteous providence that any kind of process associated with its self-appointed directives is regarded as a nuisance and optional at its own discretion. The NSA’s rogue wiretapping is a symptom of an administration drunk on its own power, and to imagine this program hasn’t already been abused is the height of naiveté.

A bureaucracy is carrying out this initiative, and within any bureaucracy there are always zealous individuals who dedicate themselves to the proscribed mission, and add some component of their own individual vision. There is always an Ollie North, a John Poindexter, a Henry Kissinger who will overarch even a wrong-headed undertaking such as the secret wiretapping of American citizens. Agencies and organizations that have already been shown to have fallen under the purview of this insidious program of illegal wiretapping and e-mail monitoring include the Quakers and PETA (People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals). And it’s only going to get worse.

-more-

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0106-27.htm

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. ...so many Americans seem to be asleep at the wheel -

either a product of Fear, or just plain stupidity/ignorance.

[Gemini Cat]

5. Americans are asleep at the wheel because they are tired.

After a hard day of working to 'put food on your family' they don't have the energy to do anything else but sleep.
Being an American these days is hard work!!

[SushiFan]

2. The media refuses to identify the corruption, so public's unaware nt

[niallmac]

3. This nation is on a god trip.

The majority really doesn't care if we terrorize the world to preserve freedom of choice of 'regular unleaded, premium unleaded or super unleaded.'
No matter how esoteric the dialog, the American mind set agrees that 'they' are heathens and 'we' are god's chosen consumers.
Oral sex in the White House is a crime against our moral sensibilities.
Bringing needless death and misery upon hundreds of thousands of men women and children does not affect us one whit. It is hard for us as Americans
to even bring the matter up in discussion.
The big one will go off somewhere in the U.S. and then we will be outraged. "They hate us for our freedoms" we will say and indeed we will be right.

[ixion]

4. "god's chosen consumers"

man, if that isn't spot on, I don't know what is.

[gulliver]

6. They don't understand why they should be afraid of it.

No one is painting them a realistic picture. It's great to point out Bush broke the law. It's great to point out that Bush skirted checks and balances. But what people really need is a picture of a government that can run amok more easily. If people allow Bush to keep spying without a warrant and even build on what he has done, then that is a weapon in the hands of a single branch of government. That weapon can be turned to any purpose later on a moment's notice.

[ladjf]

7. That's because the American public doesn't have enough

sense to "pour p..s out of a boot".