- President Bush has admitted that he has authorized the
use of surveillance upon American citizens and residents. He has argued
that he has the authority to do so, that he has balanced the need to spy
on us and our civil liberties. Unfortunately, his claims do not withstand
scrutiny.
-
- Firstly, the spying upon Americans without probable cause,
due process and a warrant supported by evidence and sworn before a competent
magistrate violates the 1st, 4th, 5th, 9th and 14th Amendments of the US
Constitution. It is essential to the argument to understand that the US
Constitution and the Bill of Rights does not create the rights of citizens,
but places our government in the position of GUARANTEEING these inherent
and INALIENABLE rights. Infringing upon these rights in any manner is unlawful,
unconstitutional, immoral and evil.
-
- The 1st Amendment guarantees our right to associate and
communicate unimpeded by state and federal government. Merely communicating
overseas is not grounds for monitoring, marking, flagging or otherwise
recording the communications of US citizens. Current law allows for the
presentation of evidence of criminal or terrorist activities as probable
cause to issue a wiretap order. There is absolutely no legitimate reason
for this administration to circumvent the rights guaranteed by this amendment.
-
- The 4th Amendment guarantees the right to be secure against
unreasonable searches and seizures. The US courts have held that a wiretap
is an unreasonable search unless it is executed upon a valid warrant. The
US congress has held such as being so unreasonable that it has passed the
following laws that guarantee limits upon the execution of surveillance,
investigation and record keeping by use of communication, telecommunication
and records (including dossiers and case files):
-
- - The Telecommunications Privacy Act of 1984 (TPA)
- - The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986
- (ECPA)
- - The Privacy Act of 1974
- - The Wire And Electronic Communications Interception
- And Interception Of Oral Communications
- - The Wireless Telecommunications Privacy Act of 2000
- - The Freedom of Information Act
-
- (see footnotes)
-
- So, not only has Mr. Bush violated the Constitution,
his oath or office, but also (at a minimum) six federal laws. In so doing,
he has violated his duties and obligations as the chief executive officer
of this great nation and should be impeached. However, like his father
before him, George W. Bush has wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism,
protectionism and fascism in the name of national interests and security.
-
- He has lied, misled and/or relied upon inappropriate
intelligence DATA to engage in an improper invasion of a sovereign nation,
violated the UN Charter (which is part and parcel of our Constitution by
law), has circumvented our fundamental rights, and portrays himself as
our great protector. Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, Franco, Khomeini, the Saudi
Royal Family and the Taliban all made the same claims of protection, but
even Mr. Bush has recognized their actions as contrary to fundamental liberties,
democracy and basic human rights.
-
- The 5th Amendment guarantees the right of due process.
The acts of spying on American citizens and residents without application,
review, approval and issuance of a warrant is, without a doubt, a complete
negation and circumvention of due process. There can be no excuse for such
an end-run around due process. Such circumvention of due process is a breach
of the highest magnitude of our fundamental liberties.
-
- The 9th Amendment limits all members of government, including
the president, from exceeding the powers and authority provided by the
Constitution. These limits include any and all efforts to usurp, circumvent
and/or by-pass the rights of US citizens and residents. The 9th Amendment
specifically reserves all rights not specifically assigned elsewhere to
the state governments and the PEOPLE. Mr. Bush's claims that he has authority
to spy upon US citizens and residents by virtue of an executive order betrays
his "anything I want to do" agenda and his fascist demeanor.
-
- The 14th Amendment, in the first section, applies all
federal protections and obligations under the Constitution to state governments
(equal protection) and specifically reasserts the obligation of due process.
-
- It is unconscionable that anyone holding the highest
political office of our nation would cast aside so many provisions of our
Constitution, especially those that were specifically included by amending
the original structure to prevent autocratic and/or authoritarian abuses.
-
- Violation of our Constitution is treason. It is so not
only in principle, but also by the words of the oath taken by each officer
of the government, military and high office. The oath of office includes
specific regard for defending the Constitution against all enemies, foreign
or domestic. Once again, George W. Bush has violated that oath, violated
the Constitution, violated federal laws, and made himself an enemy of freedom
and civil rights. Mr. Bush should resign in shame and disgrace. In the
alternative, our House of Representatives should bring about an immediate
impeachment proceeding, and the Senate should convict. Should Mr. Bush
not resign, and should congress fail to impeach and convict, then we should
rise up against such abuses even to the point of militant overthrow of
the current administration.
-
- Mr. Bush has offered lame excuses, ridicule and denial
as his only defense for his actions. He expects us to trust him. But his
record of hypocrisy provides categorical evidence that he cannot be trusted.
While he is advocating for liberty, freedom and democracy in Afghanistan
and Iraq, he is eroding and usurping civil liberties here in the US the
supposed bedrock of freedom in our world. We cannot be advocating for freedom
elsewhere while aborting freedom here. We cannot be advocating freedom
and liberty in Iraq, under extreme lack of security, while we abandon liberties
here in the name of security. But that is the hypocrisy that Mr. Bush is
shoveling upon us.
-
- Mr. Bush has appealed for us to trust his judgment regarding
the protection of our civil liberties. Our fundamental form of government
does not call for such trust because our forefathers and framers knew that
men, left unchecked and balanced, are subject to corruption of power. It
is exactly because of the corrupting nature of power that our government
was built upon a system of checks and balances, of guaranteed rights and
liberties, and of due process.
-
- Mr. Bush's judgment has removed many of the checks and
balances, deliberately set aside the guaranteed rights, and ignored due
process. He has done so not only by spying upon us, but also by circumventing
the provisions of the Geneva Conventions, denying prisoners access to fundamental
legal representations, invading a country without legal right, using a
process of "rendition" to circumvent rules against torture, advocating
for torture as a tool of interrogation, and well, we can't really be sure
of what else, can we?
-
- While Mr. Bush proclaims his religious fervor, his actions
are anything but moral by any standard, not even the Christianity he professes.
He proclaims that he understands his role, but does not act within the
scope and limits of that role. He makes excuses and expects us to live
with his breach of office, law and trust. We cannot trust Mr. Bush or anyone
in his inner circle.
-
- Beyond the fact that we cannot trust Mr. Bush is his
admission (finally) that he relied upon poor intelligence to bring us into
the invasion of Iraq. It was his job to make sure that the intelligence
he received was accurate to the highest degree. The facts are in we know
that Mr. Bush pushed an agenda of invasion despite being advised that the
intelligence he used was suspect and potentially useless.
-
- Several agencies and foreign sources provided this feedback
to his administration. We are thusly faced with the reality that either
Mr. Bush, and his entire administration, and the entire intelligence infrastructure,
is completely incompetent, or that Mr. Bush and others conspired to push
forward an agenda of war mongering to meet their own needs and desires.
-
- It is unfathomable that the entire intelligence infrastructure
universally failed. It is unbelievable that there was no voice of reason
among all the leaders advising Mr. Bush So we can only conclude that Mr.
Bush is an outright liar and pushed his agenda regardless of the dangers
for our nation, the dangers of war, and the tragedies of our losses.
-
- Bush lied and our troops have died.
- Bush lied and his administration spied.
- Bush lied and our liberties were denied.
- Bush lied and freedoms were circumscribed.
- Bush lied and our laws he did not abide.
- Face it Bush does nothing without having first lied.
-
-
- Footnotes
-
- http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/SPT/v2n1/byrne.html
-
- http://personalinfomediary.com/ECPAof1986_info.htm
-
- http://www.usdoj.gov/foia/privstat.htm
-
- http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/ usc_sup_01_18_10_I_20_119.html
-
- http://www.govrecords.org/hr-348-eh-to-authorize-the-construction-of-a-
monument-3.html
-
- http://www.usdoj.gov/04foia/
-
- _____
-
- http://www.digitaldivide.net/blog/JMDowney/view?PostID=9607
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