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Ear to the Ground

Bush Is Flouting Court After Gitmo Ruling

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Posted on Jul 9, 2006

Constitutional expert and best-selling author Glenn Greenwald reminds us that the Supreme Court’s Hamdan decision not only outlawed Bush’s military tribunals, but also removed any conceivable argument to support Bush’s illegal wiretapping programs.

  • Greenwald: “Journalists should begin asking the Justice Department every day what their legal justification for warrantless eavesdropping is now that Hamdan has rendered frivolous their prior legal arguments in defense of the President.”

  • Glenn Greenwald at Crooks and Liars:

    Ever since the Supreme Court in the Hamdan case ruled that the Bush administration’s Guantanamo Bay military commissions violate both federal law and the Geneva Conventions, the President has been paying lip service to his “willingness” to comply with that ruling.  But the Court’s ruling goes far beyond the limited question of whether military commissions are legal.  To arrive at its decision, the Court emphatically rejected the administration’s radical theories of executive power, and in doing so, rendered entirely discredited the administration’s only defenses for eavesdropping on Americans without the warrants required by law.

    Actual compliance with the Court’s ruling, then, compels the administration to immediately cease eavesdropping on Americans in violation of FISA.  If the administration continues these programs now, then they are openly defying the Court and the law with a brazeness and contempt for the rule of law that would be unprecedented even for them

    The starting point for any discussion of the illegal eavesdropping program should be the fact that the United States has had a law in place for almost 30 years now which makes it a criminal offense — punishable by 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine — to eavesdrop on Americans without judicial approval and oversight. And everyone, including the Bush administration, acknowledges that they are doing exactly what the criminal prohibits — that is, eavesdropping on Americans without the warrants required by that law.

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    By Hilding Lindquist, July 10, 2006 at 9:16 am #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    As if anyone in the MSM is going to risk losing their job over questioning what is obviously to them an obscure principle. Asking the Executive Branch to define what’s legal or illegal would put the reporter at the tail end of the access line. And how can he or she serve the public if they don’t have access?

    It’s our culture’s core value. The politician says, “I can’t serve the public if I’m not elected, so I have to do whatever it takes to get elected.” The businessman says, “I can’t serve my customers if I can’t stay in business, so I have to do whatever it takes to stay in business.” Ad infinitum.

    As long as I take care of ME, I can rely on the Invisible Hand to take care of the common good.

    How does anyone even say that let alone believe that crock of horse manure?

    But I stray from the main subject ... or do I?

    The point being that asking a MSM talking head to take the lead in holding the Executive Branch’s feet to the fire ... I think the point is made in realizing how ridiculous it is to even ask.

    Report this

    By Quadspect, July 10, 2006 at 7:22 am #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    We would not be in this monstrous war were those holding public office timely, or ever, prosecuted and fittingly punished for high crimes.

    That needs fixing.

    Report this

    By R. A. Earl, July 10, 2006 at 6:46 am #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Let’s not close Gitmo too soon.

    Bush & Co hopefully will be brought to trial for their various and sundry transgressions of not only the LAWS but the SPIRIT of the Constitution.

    Based on even the paltry amount of well-spun, published “evidence” we, the great unwashed masses have been allowed, how could they not be convicted?

    Once convicted, we’re going to need a nice safe place to keep them for a long, long time. Why not Gitmo?

    Of course I’m dreaming. These characters operate like the mafia… they have hooks into all the nooks and crannies of the justice system… and just as they have the connections and the money to manipulate the laws with impunity, they will escape any meaningful sanctions for their abysmally shameful behavior on behalf of the American people.

    Back in the Old West they perhaps had something when they hanged them first and asked questions later! Oh sure, once in a while the lynch mobs made a mistake and strung up the wrong guy for the crime committed, but, like with speeding tickets, even if you WEREN’T actually speeding the time you were stopped, how about all the times you WERE speeding and weren’t stopped?

    Report this

    By lamberthml@comcast.net, July 9, 2006 at 9:13 pm #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Pay-up , Cheney- Bush!

    Report this

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