Shrubya Needs Permission Slips After All?

There is an excellent diary up by Jeffrey Feldman calling shrubya's domestic spying program the spade that it is. The administration's theory is that as long as they can get someone, anyone, in the legal department to contort and distort American jurisprudence in support of their draconian agenda, then it's "legal." When they no longer felt like adhering to our obligations under the Geneva Conventions, they just got ol' Albertorquemada to declare them "quaint" and "obsolete." They decided they wanted to spy on U.S. citizens without going through the proper legal channels, so they had John Yoo give shrubya carte blanche during wartime. No wonder he has no interest in peaceful resolutions of conflict; he wouldn't be able to play king anymore.

If Russ Feingold and other right-minded Americans have their way, though, his days as a dictator are over anyway. Feingold's response regarding spying on U.S. citizens is a truly delectable smackdown. Have I mentioned I &hearts Russ!?

Reacting to Bush's defense of the NSA program, Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., said the president's remarks were "breathtaking in how extreme they were."

Feingold said it was "absurd" that Bush said he relied on his inherent power as president to authorize the wiretaps.

"If that's true, he doesn't need the Patriot Act because he can just make it up as he goes along. I tell you, he's President George Bush, not King George Bush. This is not the system of government we have and that we fought for."

I'd love nothing more than for Gore to run in '08, but if he refuses, Feingold is the man! Actually, a ticket with any combination of Feingold/Gore and Clark would be phenomenal! Any man who never voted for the P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act gets my vote!

I &hearts Russ!             I &hearts Russ!             I &hearts Russ!