Wiretaps: "So Much For Leadership. So Much For Honor." (RED-STATE PAPER!)

[Hissyspit]

This is from The Fayetteville Observer, a newspaper serving a military town in a Red State. I would like it to be even more harsh, but it is impressive to see "impeach him" written in this newspaper.

Please drop Mr. Smith a thank you if you are so inclined: [e-mail]

http://www.fayettevillenc.com/article?id=226206

Word Games
Gene Smith

If you’re having trouble with this issue about the president’s warrantless wiretaps, it’s because there isn’t one... What there is is a political problem. The president has confessed to practices that are unconstitutional; actions for which he can’t blame low-ranking, ill-trained zealots. This is personal. It’s about George W. Bush and no one else. But your Congress (both parties) isn’t about to impeach him, although they wish he’d stop. So they thumb through obscure texts, knit their brows and murmur about the complexity of something they know to be simple.

- snip -

Bush did NOT swear an oath to “protect and defend America,” although some such duty is implied in Article II, which makes him commander in chief. But the idea that this entails authority to order wiretaps on civilians collapses on itself. If he’s our top general, so to speak, then whatever authority that confers is military, and the military has no jurisdiction over civilians.

- snip -

The president, having routinely ignored the Fourth Amendment rights of a host of victims, insists that the amendment doesn’t apply to him because of an invisible grant of discretion hiding in Article II. He invokes some heretofore undetected constitutional immunity to the Constitution, and asserts that the unwritten trumps the written. (Strict constructionists, where are you?) It’s reminiscent of another pious but pointless defense: that nobody bugged communications in which both parties were on U.S. soil. Finally, critics are asking the obvious question: Why not? If it’s his duty to protect America by ignoring the Fourth Amendment, what difference does it make where one of the suspects plants his feet?

- snip -

Congress, whose job it is to stop him, will leave the task to the courts, which it will then vilify for having done their best with the mudball Congress lobbed at them. So much for leadership. So much for honor.

COMPLETE OP/ED AT LINK

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. Torture.... ok.... look at my emails to the NRA go to jail. How gosh. n/t

[Hissyspit]

2. kick after adding the link I forgot n/t

[BookemDano]

3. =)

Oh thank you for getting that article it is so nice to get up and have my coffee and read this great article!I will be sending him a thank you indeed!What has always drove me insane with shrub is that he kept thinking that commander in chief which he loves to say his speech coach is really helping him enunciate the f in chief. I just find it funny when he talks but,I bet he didn't find it so funny when he realized he only has power over the military not civilians I wonder how long he went thinking that?I wonder who finally told him what it means:headbang:

[Hissyspit]

5. Welcome to DU, BookemDano!

:patriot: :applause: :party:

[Jason9612]

4. Good Article

Good article.

[Hissyspit]

6. Welcome to you, too, Jason9612!

Is Saturday morning Newbie time?

:patriot: :toast: :7

[BookemDano]

8. THANK YOU

Thank you I used to be a member in 2000 when Gore won I was devastated when the repuks shut it down!I am so happy to be back w/the DU and all the wonderful people on it that I have met and who are all so kind.So yes I am a nubie but,really an ex nubie I can't say it enough I am so Happy and I donated it really makes my morning:toast:

[Tennessee Gal]

7. Very, very good!

K & R

[Hissyspit]

9. Smith is very erudite.

He often uses facetiousness and irony to make his point. I think he often goes completely over the head of most of the readers around here.

[Just Me]

10. Excellent article. Amazing how this "leadership" just makes shit up,...

,...all the time. I consider what they do even worse than "word games". They just,...make shit up: "terrorist surveillance program", "enemy combatants", "unitary executive", "pre-emptive war", "liberty tower" UGH...all of which is just made-up shit to justify their dictatorial activities.

[Hissyspit]

11. The title of the article is only two words, Just Me, and I didn't like it

either - it didn't convey much information or the spirit of the article - but interestingly, in the printed version of the paper itself, the editorial is full-page one-column all the way up and down the page leaving just a little room for the headline. I have a feeling that is what he came up with when it became clear there wasn't much room for a headline.

[Hissyspit]

12. kick - I'm off to take a nap n/t

[marions ghost]

13. "So much for leadership. So much for honor."

WHEW -- blistering !!!! This is HUGH.

I grew up not in Fayetteville but in another big military town --and I agree this is a strong and very pivotal article for The Fayetteville Observer. Y'know people in the military tend to be realists and they don't tolerate fools and liars very long. They don't take kindly to being led down the primrose path. If this is reflective of the feeling around Fort Bragg, I'm sure it reflects the prevailing attitude of the military in other bases around the country.

This writer's words nail it:

"The truth? The president ordered unlawful things that he can’t blame on anyone else. There’s no one he can sacrifice, no aide or faithful secretary to fall on his sword. So now he’s escalating, preferring to be thought a fool rather than a knave. And those who should be wrestling him to the ground are instead offering him a fig leaf.

Congress, whose job it is to stop him, will leave the task to the courts, which it will then vilify for having done their best with the mudball Congress lobbed at them."

[Hissyspit]

14. I hear plenty of soldiers spout the "party line..."

quoting Fox News and shit, but, of course, that's what they say when lot's of people are missing.

[subterranean]

15. Replacing oversight with "trust me"

The editorial points out the administration's claim "that nobody bugged communications in which both parties were on U.S. soil." My question is, how do we know they didn't?

[NightOwwl]

16. And this is why Alito is on the Supreme Court....

Strict contructionist except when it benefits the pResident. First they selected him for office, next they will allow him to trample all over the Constitution. :grr:

[liberalhistorian]

23. Especially Alito's

extremely unconstitutional view of the constitution, particularly as it refers to presidential powers. There is NO SUCH THING in the constitution as a "unitary executive", NONE, not even the barest of concepts of it. The constitution is very clear on the separation of powers and the checks and balances that separation provides. That is the most critical aspect of the governing of our nation.

The founders knew exactly what it was like to be under a monarchy and they had no intention of allowing their new nation to fall into the same trap. The President was NEVER EVER intended to be a "unitary executive", and certainly NOT a King. Alito's total failure to grasp that concept, and his fervent belief in overwhelming presidential powers and a "unitary executive" is truly beyond frightening. It is exactly what the founders were really afraid of and tried so hard to avoid. The fix is in, indeed.

[NBachers]

17. Email to Gene Smith

Thanks for the Gene Smith email link. Here's what I wrote:

Dear Gene Smith,

Thank you for your article "Word Games." You have wrapped many critical issues into one powerful and intelligent piece of writing. George W. Bush has stated publicly that he has committed high Federal crimes, and he makes it clear that he intends to continue. Our Congress is derelict in its duty to uphold the Constitution and bring charges against him.

In 1966, Miranda vs Arizona affirmed a suspect's Constitutional right against self-incrimination. Since then, media, movies, TV, and politicians have been trying to portray our Constitution as an impediment to law enforcement. The Constitution is more than that. It is the best bulwark we have against over-reaching totalitarianism and Fascist tyranny. God help us if a Miranda-level case makes it to our current Supreme Court. For Bush and his cronies, I'm afraid that the present Court is their escape hatch. If Congress ever does file charges, the Court is Bush's get-out-of-jail card. The Fix is In.

Thanks again - You did good!

[Hissyspit]

21. Welcome to DU, NBachers!

:patriot: :7 :party:

[Historic NY]

18. Made my day.....I passed it along to some Repukes.......

with the comment "so much for restoring honor to the White House".

[JAbuchan08]

19. Unwritten "law" trumps written law - all you need to know about wiretaps

[Straight Shooter]

20. Mudball.

Now, there's a priceless word, especially in light of the mudslide of scandals from the * administration.

:thumbsup:

[bluesbassman]

22. This editorial needs to get out far and wide.

With all of the pontificating, excusing, rationalizing, justifying and just plain lying, no one has put it all together as simply and concisely as Gene Smith has in this editorial. There is no room for debate; THE PRESIDENT BROKE THE LAW! Not just any law, but a willful and direct criminal assault on the Fourth Amendment. He must be held accountable for this CRIME. Our representatives in government must take action, even if they would rather not. I submit that the only way they will is if enough people shame them into action by forcing them to read clear statements of the facts like Mr. Smith's. I am going to distribute copies of this editorial to everyone I know and suggest that they forward it to their representatives. This IS a constitutional crisis, and I believe it is up to We The People to demand justice. I fear if we fail in this we will be one giant step closer to seeing our beloved Constitution ripped to shreds.

[SunDrop23]

24. Not just ANY military town...this is Ft. Bragg, home of the 82nd.

I was down for a haircut this weekend. But I digress.

To see this in the Observer is HUGE.