Bushfire

The right wing screamers have, amusingly enough, been raging about the criminality of leaking the information that the President has directly violated the Constitution and the Law; of course, leaking information to destroy one of the country's intelligence assets should get a pass. Shit stained, sniveling, mindless authoritarian weasels.

Just days after the revelation that Bush considers the Constitution 'just a piece of paper' we discover he's been wiping his ass with it. And he fully intends to keep on doing it and 'whatcha gonna do, huh?'

Josh Marshall and Kevin Drum are of the mind that the reason Bush did this without even the minimal approvals needed under FISA is because the wiretaps involved mass filtering for keywords or phone numbers. This is what is known as a 'fishing expedition' and would involve the surveillance of massive numbers of phone calls and e-mails, far beyond a normal warrant.

In other words, this would have failed the test of evidence for a normal warrant, and they knew it. Senator Rockefeller hints at this in his letter, and filed a sealed copy to cover his ass. You know the ship is sinking when the rats are starting to bail.

Amanda at Pandagon has written that working to impeach Bush is a no-win situation for the Dems, and maybe she's right. On a political basis, I can see the potential dangers she identifies. But taking no action in this case is a no-win situation for the idea that was America; it allows this greedy, authoritarian, administration to maintain, even to consolidate, their grip on power and their boot on our faces. If Bush and company sidestep the repercussions from this, they will never be wrested from power. Three years to finalize permanent control; whether it's through fake elections or simply declaring martial law and never allowing elections again, it amounts to the same thing.

Through what other means than impeachment can we administer justice in this case? impeachment is the first step before indictment; which then comes to trial. If the President is not subject to our laws, and hence to a trial when he breaks those laws, what good are those laws? They are no more than 'pieces of paper'.

For years now, some of us have been warning of the dangers of unchecked Executive, and too much concentrated power in Republican hands. And been ridiculed, called traitors, and threatened. Now, the reality has turned out even worse than predicted: war, destruction, massive incompetence, nepotism and cronyism, endemic corruption, expansion of poverty and extensive enactment of a totalitarian state.

Bush broke the law. Our law. The Constitution. Willfully, in full knowledge that he was breaking it, multiple times; he expresses no regret and has, in fact, stated that he will continue doing it. Not only is it time for America to hold him accountable; history, American History, demands it.


Impeach
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