BUSH SEALS HIS FATE
Carl F. Worden
Nothing could have polarized more Americans than this recent revelation that President George W. Bush issued an Executive Order in 2002, authorizing the National Security Agency -- often referred to by Beltway insiders as the Non-Existent Security Agency -- to monitor all forms of communication, E-mail, telephone calls, Snail-Mail, you name it -- between American and non-American citizens residing in the United States, to persons located outside the United States, without a warrant authorizing them to do so under constitutional law.
I have personal contacts with a number of individuals in foreign nations, many of them on my E-mail list. How many of my communications were monitored? How many of yours were?
Long-standing federal law has prohibited federal and military monitoring of such communications without a valid warrant since former CIA Director Bill Colby blew the whistle on such activity during the Vietnam era. There is no question that federal and constitutional laws were blatantly violated by Bush's EO, and the best defense his administration can come up with at the moment, is that national security was breached by the person(s) who gave that information to the New York Times. The only national security issue involved here is this president's threat to the privacy and security of every American citizen.
Somebody out there in a position to know felt it necessary to give the New York Times the tip on this secret order, and now we're hearing they might be in trouble for doing so? I don't think so, and most Americans don't either. In fact, whoever had the personal integrity to reveal Bush's latest faux paus should be awarded a medal.
You know, if President Bush had ordered our northern and southern borders sealed up Soviet Union style after the attacks of 9/11/2001, we might give him a little more slack in this case. But the borders have been left virtually undefended since 9/11/2001, while anyone wanting to enter this nation illegally for whatever purpose could come and go as they please, from entering to find employment, to smuggling in huge shipments of illegal drugs, to entering our nation armed with Russian SA-7 anti-aircraft missiles intended to blow your family out of the sky as they depart LAX for the Christmas holiday.
Bush has sealed his fate with this latest revelation, and this story isn't going away. In fact, this just might be the final nail in Bush's coffin, leading to his impeachment. This is an issue that impacts every single American citizen out there. No matter how poorly our kids are educated with regard to the Bill of Rights and our Constitutional protections, just about every one of them knows their communications cannot be monitored by the federal government or any other governmental agency, unless a judge has been convinced criminal activity is involved, and the judge has signed-off on a warrant authorizing such monitoring and surveillance. That didn't happen in this case.
The fireworks aren't even lit yet. George W. Bush is a known rule-breaker. He always pushes the legal limits. While Bush proclaims we are a nation under the rule of law, his actions prove he does not regard himself to be under those same rules. Just as Bush will insist you and I are under the rule of law, his megalomaniac tendencies as president allow him to rule without restraint, based on the premise that the "situation" calls for it. He will look you in the eye and tell you he has a solemn duty to protect all American citizens from terrorist attack, while leaving our borders as porous as they ever were. The man is a liar of the first degree.
Carl F. Worden