I Feel Safer Already

The Bush Administration is once again trying to make it easier for the government for spy on the American people. Democrats are justifiably skeptical.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., commented, “We look through the lens of the past to judge how much we can trust you.” Like other senators, he said that trust was undermined by recent disclosure that the FBI had abused so-called National Security Letters to obtain information about Americans.

The Bush Administration's track record on honesty is very poor. From the manipulated and exaggerated intelligence on the Iraq war to the lost emails and faulty memories during the recent Justice Dept. purges, this administration has proven it can't be trusted. Sen. Whitehouse summed it up nicely:

“The attorney general has thoroughly and utterly lost my confidence,” he said in reference to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ shifting explanations for the dismissals of eight U.S. attorneys.

The amazing thing about this is that Bush states that he can cirmcumvent any of these laws if he decides there is a threat.

National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell said the administration wants to work under the surveillance law now, but acknowledged “that does not mean the president would not use ... (constitutional powers) in a crisis.”

What that means is that Bush places himself above the law.

“We want to go after the bad guys,” Sen. Bill Nelson of D-Fla said, “but we want to prevent the creation of a dictator who takes the law in his own hands.” He said some senators and others legitimately believed Bush broke the law.

He has broken the law on many different levels and the longer it goes on the more apparent it becomes that he must be removed from office.

Jim Martin