And this battle to re-assert the meaning and spirit of the Constitution should be eminently winnable. The Rovian waving of the magic wand ?their all-purpose ?war on terror??should be unavailing on the basic issue of the Constitution?s unambiguous antipathy toward unchecked presidential power?the kind of power the Bushites have been using that war to gain.
And if Congress cannot be induced to pass some kind of resolution affirming its own powers, then perhaps we?re already too far gone to save ourselves.
Exposing the Lawless and Dark Nature of the Bushite Regime
The next stage, then, is the investigation and exposure of the lawlessness and wrong-doing of this presidency. Here, too, there is likely a strategic sequence. The rationale for the sequence is basically this: best to start with the simpler matters, and move toward the more complex. The complex require the public to give more sustained attention, and that attention will more readily be given on the difficult issues once the public has seen that wrong-doing has occurred with respect to those that are more easily demonstrated.
The first, and simplest of the issues involves the president?s directing the NSA to conduct warrantless searches. It seems almost incontrovertible ?even essentially publicly admitted already by the president himself?that the president violated the 1978 FISA law and the 4th amendment to the Constitution. How damaging such law-breaking will be for the administration may depend on the answers to two questions.
1) Why did the administration break the law? No law-breaking by the president should be allowable, but in the court of public opinion it will doubtless matter whether the intention was to protect the country in the wake of 9/11, and whether there was no legal way to do something that such protection required, or whether there was some other intention.
2) And that leads to the second issue concerning these warrantless wiretaps: upon whom did the administration illegally spy? If the spying was directed at possible terrorists, that will be one thing. If there is evidence that there was another kind of ?enemies list,? it is doubtful that there would be any great obstacle to impeachment.
The second issue of lawlessness in line for investigation is the matter of torture. The United States, by its own statute and by its being signatory to the Geneva Conventions, which when ratified became ?according to our Constitution?the law of the land, is forbidden to torture. It seems now fairly clear that the Bush administration violated that law and treaty. Many American may accept that, polls suggest, because they believe that this has helped protect them. That belief is probably false, and if so its falsity should be exposed.
But more important, this issue can serve two purposes: first, to help establish a pattern of disregard for the law, so that the public is readier to recognize other violations for which they have less sympathy; and second, to help reveal to the public how terribly this Bush regime has besmirched the once-noble image of the United States, and how it has trampled on long-standing American values.
We are supposed to be a champion of human rights, not a defiant and visible violator of them.
And the third major issue of possible lawlessness ?the issue on which the evidence is likely to be most complex and require the most sustained attention to evaluate?is the question of whether this administration unlawfully lied the nation into the Iraq war. Former federal prosecutor has argued that such lies constitute a federal crime, under ??, which makes it a felony to ?defraud the United States of America.? But beyond that, of course, this war has been a disaster, and the American people are already unhappy with this fiasco and would likely be less than forgiving of these leaders if it could be established in their minds that the American people had been deceived and manipulated to give the Bush regime a war it wanted for reasons other than those given the public and the Congress.
Which leads to one final dimension of this strategy to discredit and weaken the Bush regime. Even independently of the issue of criminal and unconstitutional actions, there should be a drumbeat of exposure of the widespread pattern of lies and distortions that permeate everything this administration says to the American people. From lies to Congress about the cost of the prescription drug bill to lies to the public about using warrants for searches to lies about the threat of a mushroom cloud, the Bush administration speaks only to deceive and to manipulate. And the more this can be shown to the American public the more defenseless they will become against the onslaught of refutation, investigation, and ?ultimately, one hopes?impeachment.
That leaves the question of specific things that can be done now?by those who oppose the Bush regime?to help capture the public?s attention to the dangers of this ruling group, and thus begin the momentum to lead to their ultimate defeat. Given that the press is still not willing to tell the story that needs to be told, given that the Congress is dominated by the Republican minions of the Bush administration, what opening moves are available to us?
I have a few specific ideas, which will be presented on a later occasion.
And if Congress cannot be induced to pass some kind of resolution affirming its own powers, then perhaps we?re already too far gone to save ourselves.
Exposing the Lawless and Dark Nature of the Bushite Regime
The next stage, then, is the investigation and exposure of the lawlessness and wrong-doing of this presidency. Here, too, there is likely a strategic sequence. The rationale for the sequence is basically this: best to start with the simpler matters, and move toward the more complex. The complex require the public to give more sustained attention, and that attention will more readily be given on the difficult issues once the public has seen that wrong-doing has occurred with respect to those that are more easily demonstrated.
The first, and simplest of the issues involves the president?s directing the NSA to conduct warrantless searches. It seems almost incontrovertible ?even essentially publicly admitted already by the president himself?that the president violated the 1978 FISA law and the 4th amendment to the Constitution. How damaging such law-breaking will be for the administration may depend on the answers to two questions.
1) Why did the administration break the law? No law-breaking by the president should be allowable, but in the court of public opinion it will doubtless matter whether the intention was to protect the country in the wake of 9/11, and whether there was no legal way to do something that such protection required, or whether there was some other intention.
2) And that leads to the second issue concerning these warrantless wiretaps: upon whom did the administration illegally spy? If the spying was directed at possible terrorists, that will be one thing. If there is evidence that there was another kind of ?enemies list,? it is doubtful that there would be any great obstacle to impeachment.
The second issue of lawlessness in line for investigation is the matter of torture. The United States, by its own statute and by its being signatory to the Geneva Conventions, which when ratified became ?according to our Constitution?the law of the land, is forbidden to torture. It seems now fairly clear that the Bush administration violated that law and treaty. Many American may accept that, polls suggest, because they believe that this has helped protect them. That belief is probably false, and if so its falsity should be exposed.
But more important, this issue can serve two purposes: first, to help establish a pattern of disregard for the law, so that the public is readier to recognize other violations for which they have less sympathy; and second, to help reveal to the public how terribly this Bush regime has besmirched the once-noble image of the United States, and how it has trampled on long-standing American values.
We are supposed to be a champion of human rights, not a defiant and visible violator of them.
And the third major issue of possible lawlessness ?the issue on which the evidence is likely to be most complex and require the most sustained attention to evaluate?is the question of whether this administration unlawfully lied the nation into the Iraq war. Former federal prosecutor has argued that such lies constitute a federal crime, under ??, which makes it a felony to ?defraud the United States of America.? But beyond that, of course, this war has been a disaster, and the American people are already unhappy with this fiasco and would likely be less than forgiving of these leaders if it could be established in their minds that the American people had been deceived and manipulated to give the Bush regime a war it wanted for reasons other than those given the public and the Congress.
Which leads to one final dimension of this strategy to discredit and weaken the Bush regime. Even independently of the issue of criminal and unconstitutional actions, there should be a drumbeat of exposure of the widespread pattern of lies and distortions that permeate everything this administration says to the American people. From lies to Congress about the cost of the prescription drug bill to lies to the public about using warrants for searches to lies about the threat of a mushroom cloud, the Bush administration speaks only to deceive and to manipulate. And the more this can be shown to the American public the more defenseless they will become against the onslaught of refutation, investigation, and ?ultimately, one hopes?impeachment.
That leaves the question of specific things that can be done now?by those who oppose the Bush regime?to help capture the public?s attention to the dangers of this ruling group, and thus begin the momentum to lead to their ultimate defeat. Given that the press is still not willing to tell the story that needs to be told, given that the Congress is dominated by the Republican minions of the Bush administration, what opening moves are available to us?
I have a few specific ideas, which will be presented on a later occasion.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
