by James Glaser
December 20, 2005

President Bush is all worked up because he got caught breaking the law. George had American intelligence groups wiretapping phones without a court order. Bush claims the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which requires a court order (warrant) to tap phones, doesn't apply to him. Bush claims, "We're at war."

I must have missed that declaration of war that the President is talking about. George Bush wants us to believe that when America goes to war, the President can do whatever he wants, and that his orders are above any existing law. Congress is the branch of government that can declare war, and they haven't done that since 1941. So if there is some hidden provision that gives the president extra ordinary powers during a war, it does not apply now, because legally we are not at war.

President Bush keeps telling us that the constitution and a congressional resolution authorizing force against terrorism allow him to do what ever he wants. If you read the constitution, it explicitly requires the President to obey the law. The resolution authorizes "all necessary force." All necessary force does not sound like permission to do away with the need for a warrant to do wire taps.

What is so crazy about this whole mess is that we have a secret court that lets Washington wire tap first, and get a warrant up to 72 hours later. This court has approved tens of thousands of wire taps and has only rejected four. For some strange reason, George Bush decided that he was above this law, even though it would have been easy for his team to get any warrants they needed. George wanted to show he had the power to do what ever he wanted, and he now got caught. One of the charges against Richard Nixon was that he did wire taps without a court order. Nixon claimed he didn't need the court's permission because we were at war. It didn't work for Dick, he ended up leaving Washington before his term was up.

George Bush talks about teaching Iraq's new government about the "rule of law." And then he goes out and decides he can become a dictator and do what ever he wants.

George has let the power of his office go to his head. That has happened to many leaders over the years. Caesar made himself a god. Hitler ran amok, trying to destroy the world and Saddam did what ever he wanted. George wants power, and believes that laws are for everyone else.

George Bush is destroying our nation by his flaunting of the constitution and the breaking of our laws. He certainly is not protecting us. The reason we have a constitution, is to protect the people from politicians who feel that they can do what ever they want. George Bush has committed a "high crime."

Bush is an arrogant man. In the weeks and months to come we will find other crimes he and his administration have committed. Men like George Bush go all the way, doing what ever they think they can get away with. The silence is now broken, and more officials who really love our country will be stepping forward, and they will leak other thing George has done in his thirst for power.