A Special Talent, Part II
In another display of that special talent to make asses of themselves, the DNC has issued the following statement:
“In our democracy no one, not even the President, is above the law. Democrats understand that we must take extraordinary measures to defend Americans, and existing laws were crafted to ensure that the President can legally listen to conversations when necessary. So the question remains: why did President Bush deliberately choose to break the law, as the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service has twice reported? The American people deserve an answer.”
As part of their lie, they characterize the NSA wiretapping as “domestic wiretapping”, which they know is patently false. Secondly, they know that the President can’t get a warrant when they’re intercepting hundreds of calls because that isn’t probable cause. Since probable cause can’t be established in such a situation, there’s no way a warrant can be granted.
It’s also worth noting Paul Mirengoff’s explanation where he says
“But the [Washington] Post, in undertaking its own “end-run,” overlooks the fact that FISA contains an exception for surveillance authorized by other statutes. Thus, if AUMF authorizes the NSA program (even if implicitly), and Hamdi suggests that it very well might, then the program can be viewed as authorized by another statute. In that case, the Post’s concern about AUMF “trumping” FISA is a red-herring because the statutes are not in conflict, both permit the president’s action.
In other words, FISA takes into account that other statutes can authorize these wiretaps. That appears to be what the President is relying on. In these types of instances, I’ll trust Paul Mirengoff’s legal expertise over that of Howard Dean’s.
Cross-post at LetFreedomRing
January 23rd, 2006 at 2:39 pm
The Democrats are walking a ledge with this attack on NSA. They know the public can turn on them and massacre them at the pols if they are perceived allied with the jihad. So why do it? Because they are so obsessed with hating Bush and so frustrated that they are the minority in both House and Senate…well, it’s enough to make you explode. The more the Democrats look like the allies of the ACLU and the Mohammedans, the more the Republicans should choose their words carefully. After all, when your enemy looks like he is going to slit his own throat, let’s not scare him into changing his mind by pointing out he has a blade to his throat.
January 23rd, 2006 at 7:15 pm
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