A Lawless Administration

"One judge in Michigan has done what 535 members of Congress have so abysmally failed to do. She has reasserted the rule of law over a lawless administration and shown why issues of this kind belong within the constitutional process created more than two centuries ago to handle them."

Ruling for the Law
The New York Times | Editorial

Friday 18 August 2006

Ever since President Bush was forced to admit that he was spying on Americans' telephone calls and email without warrants, his lawyers have fought to keep challenges to the program out of the courts. Yesterday, that plan failed. A federal judge in Detroit declared the eavesdropping program to be illegal and unconstitutional. She also offered a scathing condemnation of what lies behind the wiretapping - Mr. Bush's attempt to expand his powers to the point that he can place himself beyond the reach of Congress, judges or the Constitution.

"There are no hereditary kings in America and no powers not created by the Constitution," wrote Judge Anna Diggs Taylor of the United States District Court in Detroit. Her decision was based on a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union.

She said Mr. Bush violated the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act when he ordered the National Security Agency to spy without a warrant on international phone calls and e-mail by Americans and foreign residents of the United States. She noted that the surveillance law was passed to prohibit just this sort of presidential abuse of power and provided ample flexibility for gathering vital intelligence. She also said that the program violated the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures, as well as the rights of free speech and association granted by the First Amendment.

President Bush has violated his oath to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the land. He did so in secret all the while having a Congress that would allow him to do just about anything including go to war based on faulty intelligence, now known as lies. He and his administration have commited serious offenses against our country either through lack of understanding or deliberation for political purposes. Sooner or later he, as we, will pay a price for these foibles as we can either keep going down this path or return to principles established by the founder fathers, who in their wisdom foresaw these devestating possibilities to the very core of what the United States stands for. The use of state secrets is an abomination and should not be allowed to go any further. President Bush and Richard Cheney, step down. Senator Lindsey Graham, step down. You have been and continue to be a greater threat to the United States than any terrorist has been or could be. With you terrorism wins everyday. The evil you perceive as being out there wins everyday.


In this case, the administration told Judge Taylor that merely arguing its case would expose top secret information. Judge Taylor said she had reviewed the secret material and concluded it was not relevant. The secrecy claim, she said, was "disingenuous and without merit."

Peace to all. There is a better way.

me in the EE