The President, the Stripper and the Attorney General

[rodeodance]

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020906B.shtml

Go to Original

The President, the Stripper and the Attorney General
By Sidney Blumenthal
The Guardian UK

Thursday 09 February 2006

The extraordinary legal defense of George Bush's domestic spying reads like a blend of Kafka, Le Carré and Mel Brooks.

In 1996, Governor George W Bush received a summons to serve on a jury, which would have required his admission that 20 years earlier he had been arrested for drunk driving. Already planning his presidential campaign, he did not want this information made public. His lawyer made the novel argument to the judge that Bush should not have to serve because "he would not, as governor, be able to pardon the defendant in the future". (The defendant was a stripper accused of drunk driving.) The judge agreed, and it was not until the closing days of the 2000 campaign that Bush's record surfaced. On Monday, the same lawyer, Alberto Gonzales - now attorney general - appeared before the senate judiciary committee to defend "the client", as he called the president.

Gonzales was the sole witness called to explain Bush's warrantless domestic spying, in obvious violation of the foreign intelligence surveillance act (Fisa) and circumvention of the special court created to administer it. The scene at the Senate was acted as though scripted partly by Kafka, partly by Mel Brooks, and partly by John le Carré. After not being sworn in, the absence of oath-taking having been insisted upon by the Republicans, Gonzales offered legal reasoning even more imaginative than that he used to get Bush off jury duty: a melange of mendacity, absurdity and mystery.

The attorney general argued that Fisa did and did not apply; that the administration was operating within it, while flouting it; and that it didn't matter. The president's "inherent" power, after all, allowed him to do whatever he wanted. It was all, Gonzales said, "totally consistent". His explanation, observed Senator Arlen Specter, the Republican chairman of the judiciary committee, "defies logic and plain English".

Congress, Gonzales elaborated, had no proper constitutional role, but in any case had already approved the president's secret program by voting for the authorization of the use of military force in Afghanistan - even if members didn't know it; or even, when informed years later that they had approved the secret program, objected that they hadn't known that that was what they were doing. ........

[rodeodance]

1. 'Congress, Gonzales elaborated, had no proper constitutional role, but"

seems Congress (at least the Repugs and a few dems) are in agreement with AG--they ARE the rubberstamp.

[Dhalgren]

2. I was talking about this to a friend of mine and he said that if the

congress defies Bush and passes a law allowing him to spy on American citizens it will be a victory against Bush. I ask how this could be a "victory" if congress just turns around and authorizes the destruction of our rights. He said it would prove and set the precedent that the president did not have the authority to do this. I said, "What?" He said it was a victory of the congress over the "unified executive" - the president can't do this without congressional approval. I said that Bush is saying he has dictatorial powers, congress says that no he doesn't unless congress gives it to him; and to prove their point, they give dictatorial powers to him? I am sorry, but I don't "get" the niceties of this argument.

[havocmom]

3. Attention spans so short they get lost in their own circular logic

How the hell do people like that function?

[Dhalgren]

5. And this guy is really smart and quite liberal - a solid Democrat.

But he just became testy with me when I could not see the "up side" to this idea. I said that the Roman Republic would, from time to time, give dictatorial powers to one or another of its "old family" generals; and these generals always relinquished power (some easier than others) until Caesar came along and said, "No, thanks anyway. I'll just be dictator from now on." My friend said that he "hoped" that there were enough Republicans who were actual patriots to not let that happen. I just stared at him for a few moments and changed the subject...

[LiberalFighter]

4. Shoot Gonzales and then castrate him!!!!!!!!