December 20, 2005
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TUESDAY POLITICSThe Fourth Amendment
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
(Read more of the fine points about warrantless electronic surveillance here. Buy T-shirt here.)I was riding to work this morning and the legality of Bush’s directive for secret spying on all of us (could be you or me, who knew?) over the past year or more was being discussed on NPR. It sounded like there was no doubt a “major crime” had been committed and furthermore that the New York Times (who broke the story) had been aware of it all that time, as well as various members of the House and Senate. Now here’s what I’d like to know – how does the President get to commit a “major crime” and get away with it? And will it help to dig his hole that he’s being so belligerent about it? Can you spell I-M-P-E-A-C-H? Stay tuned.
Deep Thought: “Many people do not realize that the snowshoe can be used for a great many things besides walking on snow. For instance, it can be used to carry pancakes from the stove to the breakfast table. Also, it can be used to carry uneaten pancakes from the table to the garbage. Finally, it can be used as a kind of strainer, where you force pancakes through the strings to see if a piece of gold got in a pancake somehow.”
Today I am grateful for: Having a fireplace
Guess the Movie: “Look around! You couldn’t find a whiter, safer or better lit part of this city. But this white woman sees two black guys, who look like UCLA students, strolling down the sidewalk and her reaction is blind fear. I mean, look at us! Are we dressed like gangbangers? Do we look threatening? No. Fact, if anybody should be scared, it’s us: the only two black faces surrounded by a sea of over-caffeinated white people, patrolled by the triggerhappy LAPD. So, why aren’t we scared?” Answer: Crash, 2004.
Winner: tearsign.
A Time to Impeach
by Doug Ireland
President Bush may find himself in deep trouble after ordering and defending illegal wiretaps of U.S. citizens — a crime for which Richard Nixon was nearly impeached. (Rest of article here.)
Comments (16)
Oh we can hope and pray and cross all our crossables that it might happen…(secretly doing all three now)
What really troubles is me is that a lot of people don’t seem bothered by this at all!
Well, I think there are many grounds for impeachment but I thought the sinister Patriot Act had all but made it legal for the government to spy in order to “protect the homeland.” I really hope he gets impeached. *crossing fingers*
It truly is a shame. Our rights, the very things that our soldiers are supposedly fighting for, were infringed upon because we were fearful enough to let Bush do it.
We’ll never hear the end of this…
I hate politics. ^.^
Anyways, nice site!
I don’t know the movie but it reminds me of a time when a guy I know was walking to his apartment and some women called the police because he was wearing a hooded sweatshirt. The prez can commit a major crime and get away with it because the elected officials are mostly republicans and because people believe too much propaganda.
I would just like to say that we who live in Texas hereby declare President Bush as no longer a member of our fine State. We may be obstinate and prone to overstatement of the facts but we are not all fools.
Movie: Crash (the latest one – not the erotic David Cronenberg one)
Crash wins!
Impeach Bush wow. Is that possible or just a dream? I am up in Canada and have given up following American policy.
There’s no question Bush deserves to be impeached. But, it makes me sick to think of putting this country through all that again. Nixon …Clinton…Bush. Polarizing bullshit that never gets us anywhere. It just divides us, and the result is always the same (well, Nixon did resign; I stand corrected).
Politicians voting along party lines, nobody telling the truth …everybody slanting and spinning and we don’t know where to turn for an objective account …
I’m starting to rant and babble, so I may as well quit. Didn’t know the movie “Crash” but that bit of dialogue makes me want to see it.
Impeach the bastard, and if it divides the country, then it divides the country between those who want freedom and those who want to take away people’s freedom. I read that Nancy Pelosi knew about it and was concerned. Bullshit! I blogged that if my son who is seven did something like that, like watched his friends burn down the school and later said, “I saw them do it, and I didn’t think it was right,” but he didn’t call 911 or run for help screaming his head off….I’d punish him swiftly and severely. Impeach them all.
Anyone who thinks that Bush and his ilk are spying on foreign terrorists like Bin Laden, and not them or their friends or people like Martha Stewart….they are in D-E-N-I-A-L.
I hope he does get impeached. Enough is enough.
I love how Bush is justifying his actions by saying that the secret spying is necessary to protect us from another 9/11. I wish he would show me how listening to American citizens’ phones and reading American citizens’ emails would have helped to prevent 9/11.
Its amazing how one family can take over the country like this. Its like we are going back in time and pretty soon, its a monarchy system all over again.
I can’t believe the number of people I run into who say, “If you don’t have anything to hide, why does all this bother you?”
Not with the current Congress, I think.