Bush, spying and Presidential power

The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and the ACLU are suing the Bush Administration over possible federal eavesdropping of 10 defense attorneys who were defending clients that were themselves under suspicion, including immigration and Guantanamo detainees. There is no direct evidence, at the moment, that these attorneys actually were spied on but all fit the profile of those that would have been. Part of the lawsuit would require the release of information that would demonstrate whether these individuals were in fact spied on. For more details see today’s New York Times article on the suit and today’s Democracy Now! program where Amy Goodman talks with Shayana Kadidal of CCR.

I would like to point out that this illegal activity of the Bush administration is not just about a breach of civil liberties. First, unlike Bush would have us believe giving up civil liberties does not equate to making us safer. Another article in today’s New York Times demonstrates that nearly all of the leads generated through NSA spying were dead ends. Thus another reason for having FISA oversight, if the government needs clear reasons for conducting surveillance then it’s more likely to pursue fruitful leads rather than unhelpful dragnets.

The second major issue here, pointed out eloquently in Al Gore’s speech, is Presidential power. We are at a point in this country where Presidential power has fewer checks than at almost any other time in our history. This goes against the fundamental principle of separation of powers, a principle that keeps us from sliding into dictatorship. Bush is purposely pushing at every edge of Presidential power. The more we give him the more he will take, and that is very dangerous.