I Am The State

I believe it was Maya Angelou who gave the sage advise: "when people tell you who the are, believe them." Well, George W. Bush did as much in 2000 when he joked: "If this were a dictatorship, it’d be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I’m the dictator." In 2006, I think it has pretty much been established that Bush thinks he is not only above the law, he is the law!

We are now learning what President Bush considers to be the limits of his power—nothing.

In public appearances this week, Bush defended his program of domestic spying without court approval, citing the inherent war powers of the presidency under the U.S. Constitution.

The president points to his status as commander-in-chief and the resolution — approved by Congress three days after the 9/11 attacks — authorizing him to use 'all necessary and appropriate force' against the terrorists.

It is an obvious overreach of presidential prerogative; thin justification for what amounts to a snooping foray against Americans and others in the U.S.

It all smacks of France's Louis XIV's famous dictum: 'L'etat, c'est moi'— 'I am the state.'

The administration is on shaky legal ground. Last week, the Justice Department issued a 42-page analysis declaring the president 'will exercise all authority available to him, consistent with the Constitution, to protect the people of the United States.'

The Justice Department brief also contended that some presidential powers are simply 'beyond congressional ability to regulate.'

But the law is the law. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 — which was enacted after in-depth congressional hearings on domestic spying — established a special court to issue warrants for electronic eavesdropping on suspected foreign agents inside the United States.

So far, that court has been basically a rubber stamp for government petitions, rarely turning down a request at crisis times. The court permits emergency wiretaps without court approval for up to 72 hours.

If court procedures tie law enforcement's hands, Congress is open to fixing it. 'I know of no member of Congress, frankly, who, if the administration came and said, 'Here's why we need this capability,' that they wouldn't get it,' said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

But the Bush administration wanted unfettered freedom to spy on who they want, when they want, with no legal constraints whatsoever