So the Republicans' logic on the reach of GW's presidential authority is that Bush can mount an unprovoked invasion on a sovereign nation, then justify every action he takes thereafter because our nation is at war.

Newspapers, television "news" and individual reporters have been giving this regime a pass for far too long, and are now lining up to boost the gulager-in-chief's popularity at a time when calls for impeachment and a restoration of a level of sanity should be ringing across the land.

Does anyone know if Finland is still taking in disaffected Americans? And can I bring my pets?

Happy Holidays!

Just because these guys call something a "war" shouldn't mean they have broad powers to undermine American's freedoms.

I mean, jeez we've been fighting the drug war, and the war on poverty for decades. Do those also count as "wars" that allow them to seize power? Maybe I shouldn't give them any ideas... but then again they've probably already thought of that.

I think I'll post this anonymously so I don't get added to any of the groups that have been spied upon.

Following is an excerpt from remarks made by George Bush on April 20, 2004 at Kleinhan's Music Hall in Buffalo, NY in a "Conversation on the USA Patriot Act":

So the first thing I want you to think about is, when you hear Patriot Act, is that we changed the law and the bureaucratic mind-set to allow for the sharing of information. It's vital. And others will describe what that means.

Secondly, there are such things as roving wiretaps. Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order. 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. It's important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution.

I don't know if there's a video record of Bush's Buffalo appearance (wouldn't it be great if there was) but the full text of his remarks is readily available by way of the White House's Office of the Press Secretary.

Let's see, by April 2004 hadn't Bush already renewed his authorization of wiretaps without warrants countless times? Wouldn't that mean that our president is a consummate liar? What a shock. A bigger shock, I suppose, would be to see or hear any mention of his April remarks in the MSM. And the biggest shock of all would be to see both sides of the aisle throw George Bush's words right back in his face every time he starts pissing and moaning about how there's no need to add any civil liberties verbage to the Patriot Act. (Okay, the biggest shock would really be if Congress were to live up to its Constitutional reponsibility and impeach Mr. Above-the-Law Bush!)

Looks like Specter, Hagel, and Snowe just got added to the "surveillance" list...

To Rick Santorum and John Cornyn and the others who are apoplectic that the nation doesn't "just trust" them to get this whole war on terror right: WHAT THE HELL DID YOU EXPECT?

Just because you think George W. Bush is a likable guy and you all can maybe have a beer with him doesn't mean he's somebody that we just automatically trust. He and you are all THE GOVERNMENT. You may remember that these United States of America were formed on the notion that you cannot completely trust government, which is why the Founding Fathers came up with a thing called "separation of powers", with no branch of government being able to act without being first checked by the others. Governmental restraint by the law is the foundation of our society. It's what ensures we don't become what we despise: a dictatorship.

Now I'm as disturbed as anybody about why the New York Times didn't get this out as soon as it knew, but I am not going along with these sychophants with aspirations of their own who seem to think standing with Bush and against our fundamental rights as Americans is a good idea. The President of the United States BROKE THE LAW in clear, obvious, arrogant, and defiant fashion. He and anyone who was involved in this should be impeached, removed from office, tried, convicted and sent to prison. Anyone who stands with him deserves to be voted out of office and replaced with someone who will actually uphold the Constitution. We've spiraled to some depths as a nation since this thug became Leader of the Free World, but we still know what's right and what's wrong. This was, as Arlen Specter says, clearly and categorically wrong. Let the hearings begin. Hold these criminals accountable, for the sake of the country, PLEASE.