BlackFive

"But surprisingly, the President's soothing statements turned out to be false. Moreover, as soon as this massive domestic spying program was uncovered by the press, the President not only confirmed that the story was true, but also declared that he has no intention of bringing these wholesale invasions of privacy to an end."

Thankfully President Bush is able to hear over the keening and wailing of the left and thinks it wise to listen in to see who Al-Qaeda might be checking in with worldwide, which in my world includes the US of A.

"At present, we still have much to learn about the NSA's domestic surveillance. What we do know about this pervasive wiretapping virtually compels the conclusion that the President of the United States has been breaking the law repeatedly and persistently."

Al any more learned about classified NSA programs will get costly in terms of Club Gitmo vacations and if necessary those ever popular Gulfstream getaways you like to talk about.

" Recently, for example, we learned from recently declassified documents that the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which authorized the tragic Vietnam war, was actually based on false information. We now know that the decision by Congress to authorize the Iraq War, 38 years later, was also based on false information. "

Is there something hard-wired in a lefty view that precludes you from understanding the distinction between false and incorrect. FFS, it's not complicated my 10 year old son has mastered it.

"The President and I agree on one thing. The threat from terrorism is all too real."

Yeah Al, well the President and I agree on one thing, you're a maroon.

"Where we disagree is that we have to break the law or sacrifice our system of government to protect Americans from terrorism."

I was unaware that W had broken any law, trumped-up ruckuses aside and I do believe there will be elections this Fall.

"At the same time, the Executive Branch has claimed a previously unrecognized authority to mistreat prisoners in its custody in ways that plainly constitute torture in a pattern that has now been documented in U.S. facilities located in several countries around the world."

Now that is just a trip through several fever swamps in one factless sentence.

previously unrecognized authority- Duly granted authority as Commander in Chief
authority to mistreat prisoners- Authority to treat prisoners as well as our own soldiers
in ways that plainly constitute torture- In ways that plainly constitute coercive interrogation

"Over 100 of these captives have reportedly died while being tortured by Executive Branch interrogators and many more have been broken and humiliated. In the notorious Abu Ghraib prison, investigators who documented the pattern of torture estimated that more than 90 percent of the victims were innocent of any charges."

Executive Branch interrogators, Karl Rove maybe Al? WTF? I guess technically it is correct since the agencies report to the Executive, but nice reach to pin it inside 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Regarding Abu Ghraib, 90% of all those who ever passed through there were not convicted of a crime, quite a difference from Al's misleading statement.

"The President has also claimed that he has the authority to kidnap individuals in foreign countries and deliver them for imprisonment and interrogation on our behalf by autocratic regimes in nations that are infamous for the cruelty of their techniques for torture."

Something VP Al Gore advocated strongly for when his team had a chance to scarf up some jihadis. I guess it's only wrong if you have the stones to do it and it helps W.

"we need to be aware of the advances in eavesdropping and surveillance technologies with their capacity to sweep up and analyze enormous quantities of information and to mine it for intelligence. This adds significant vulnerability to the privacy and freedom of enormous numbers of innocent people at the same time as the potential power of those technologies. These technologies have the potential for shifting the balance of power between the apparatus of the state and the freedom of the individual in ways both subtle and profound."

True 'dat Al, but what we don't need to do is take every innovation in intel gathering and submit it to the "will all the tinfoil hat types think this is OK" test. I do not support unwarranted spying on US citizens, I do support warrantless surveillance of Al-Qaeda commo even if it means my Mom has to explain why she was checking out time shares in Pakistan.

"Don't misunderstand me: the threat of additional terror strikes is all too real and their concerted efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction does create a real imperative to exercise the powers of the Executive Branch with swiftness and agility. Moreover, there is in fact an inherent power that is conferred by the Constitution to the President to take unilateral action to protect the nation from a sudden and immediate threat, but it is simply not possible to precisely define in legalistic terms exactly when that power is appropriate and when it is not."

So if even the towering intellect of Albert Francis Sinatra Gore cannot solve the enigma that is when the inherent power of the President is appropriate or not, what will we do? I guess we will continue to hope that our elected leader listened when we rehired him. We said loud and clear, you better be out beatin' the bushes smackin' terrorist ass everywhere you find it. And I don't remember adding, unless they happen to make it to the US, then back off 'cuz you might accidentally read the love letters Howard Dean sends to Barbra Streisand. The info gathered is evaluated for terrorist threats and if none are found, no action is taken. If any other use of it is made then I protest, as loud as the left and as an armed citizen. But that's not what's happening and Gore's Constitutional crisis is more of a personality crisis, can we even hope for both him and Kerry in the race for '08?

                                                                   - Uncle J