"In a speech in Buffalo, N.Y., on April 20, 2004, Bush went out of his way to mislead the American people into a false sense of security about his respect for Fourth Amendment prohibitions on warrantless wiretaps.

“By the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires – a wiretap requires a court order,” Bush said. “Nothing has changed, by the way. When we’re talking about chasing down terrorists, we’re talking about getting a court order before we do so.”

At the time of his speech, Bush had been authorizing wiretaps without getting approval from the FISA court for more than two years."

From 'Torture Boy' Signals More Spying by Robert Parry

March 2, 2006

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/030206.html

Clinton was impeached for lying about his sexual escapades under oath. Bush took an oath that he would, to the best of his Ability, "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Clinton violated his oath with personal consequences for a few people. Bush violated his oath with vast consequences for the future of our Republic. Bush's baldfaced lies to the American people, to the extreme prejudice of their most cherished rights and heritage of liberty, deserve prompt and severe action.

I'm done with voting for the lesser of two evils. The votes I most regret casting are the two for Bill Clinton, who turned out to be a lackey of the globalist corporate culture. Obama looks the same to me at this point. When push comes to shove, he votes with the military/corporate interests. Either the Democrats come up with candidates that stand firm for Constitutional rights, for national sovereignty, for fiscal responsibility (the deficit DOES matter, Mr. Obama), and for a humane foreign policy or my defection after 35 years a Democrat becomes permanent.

If, like the Keane Commission, McCain's proposed commission would be given its marching orders with a foregone conclusion, there would be little point in the exercise. Remember that the 9/11 Commission was charged with determining how 19 box-cutter wielding Islamic extremists hijacked 4 aircraft and caused the havoc and destruction that ensued. It was never authorized to investigate what may have really happened that day. The official version as axiomatic. The purpose of the Commission, under the direction of White House stooge Philip Zelikow as Chief-of-Staff, was to bolster the official version.

A bunch of Wall Street bankers and members of corporate boards of directors, who occasionally serve in government offices, investigating corrupt practices in the corporate culture would be like having Dick Cheney in charge of finding out who leaked Valerie Plame's CIA connection to the press.

I can't refrain from trying to explain how we can probe the brain of John McCain on the topic of Spain - subject him to HIGH STAKES TESTING. What's good for the goose is good for the gander, eh? The neocons have been the primary promoters of the No Child Left Behind approach to education, the keystone of which is high stakes testing. Let's put the candidates on the spot with the same series of tests they have imposed on high school students. Test their knowledge of geography, history, science, mathematics, and economics. Make the candidates' responses public along with the correct answers.

We can't afford to have another half-educated rube in the White House. The results of a series of tests would reveal which candidate (if any) really is smarter than a fifth-grader.

I have been looking at an antiquated document known as the Constitution of the United States of America, which is still the de jure ultimate authority on the conduct of the federal government. I have yet to discover any provision under which funds may be transferred from the Federal treasury to private enterprises for purposes other than the purchase of goods or services under contract for the public good. Those, like myself, who adhere to a strict constructionist view of the Constitution and believe that fiscal responsibility means that failure may be a just and necessary consequence of excessive risk-taking, shudder at the thought of this burden being shifted onto our already bankrupt public treasury and the backs of middle-income taxpayers.

The Paulson plan looks to me like just another looting of the Treasury and another thumbing the nose at the Constitution. Isn't there anyone in Washington who will stand up justice and law?

Thanks to all the parasitic spyware and the multitude of ad graphics on Salon, my modem, running flat out at 28.8 kB/s, took 7 minutes to load the page with this article to the point I could begin to read the text.

Salon is the most spyware infested site I visit on a regular basis.

I live out in the sticks where DSL and cable are unavailable. I tried to get satellite internet last summer, but AT&T refuses to let their phone and Dish Network customers also buy a Wild Blue satellite hookup. No explanation for this has been forthcoming from AT&T, as they don't appear to be accountable to the public for their seemingly stupid, mean-spirited decisions.

The Federal government was instituted to secure the peace and safeguard the liberty of the people. It has no business using the resources of taxpayers to insure the economic advantages of the corporate elite. If the economic oligarchy has dirtied its own nest there are logical consequences that do not require the expenditures from the U.S. Treasury.

Returning to a monetary system based on wealth instead of debt would go a long way toward stabilizing the economy and making prosperity possible for all rather than a few. The unconstitutional Federal Reserve System needs to be terminated.