|
Gone, But Not Forgotten? What The Internet Will Look Like Under SOPA Fearsgiving Week Jesus Approves of Waterboarding Beware of Asteroids 
All links are current as of the date of publication. All content created by the author is copyrighted 2005-2010, except where held by the owners/publishers of parent works and/or subject materials. Any infringement of another's work is wholly unintentional. If you see something here that is yours, a polite request for removal or credit will be honored. |
� |
Where Thieves and Pimps Run FreeSaturday, May 27, 2006 1:48 AMTo the Congressional dunderheads who confirmed General Michael Hayden as CIA Director: Shame on you. In appointing Hayden, you have once again upheld the argument that the President (not just any president, mind you, but all who follow) can run roughshod over our laws and the Constitution. Amoebas have more spinal fortitude than you folks do. You have seen the thieves in the halls of power, but instead of bringing them to account, you've handed them the keys and gone off to play with yourselves. Even the misguided arguments of whether Hayden should resign his commission in the Air Force amounted to nothing. Hayden answered your questions about the 4th Amendment with a logical fallacy and an outright lie � asserting the NSA program used 'probable cause,' when Hayden himself spoke of using the less-stringent standard of reasonable belief. A standard that, arrived at through presidential memorandum, is illegal. The Chief Executive must uphold our laws. You have failed in your sworn duty to defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. What part of that 'truth to power' don't you understand? Speaking of the Rule of Law crowd, several Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee have accused the media of damaging national security through their reporting of the NSA's warrantless wiretap program and the CIA's secret prison / extraordinary rendition practices. While Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Michigan) said he was not yet willing to advocated prosecution, he warned, "The press is not above the law, including laws regarding unauthorized disclosure and use of classified information." Ahem. Pot, meet Kettle. Kettle, this is Pot. Kettle and Pot, meet Vice-President Dick Cheney. The irony of playing 'blame the media' is that the 'mainstream media' are regularly castigated for getting their facts wrong, or not telling the whole story. Yet, when they do, they're also to blame because it just happens to be a story that reveals malfeasance at the highest levels of our government. Iraq's Foreign Minister, Hoshyar Zebari, has endorsed the right of Iran to pursue the technological and scientific capabilities necessary to establish nuclear power for peaceful purposes. Deputy Foreign Minister Labid Abawi later emphasized that this was not a statement about Iran's alleged ambitions towards nuclear arms. So if our new pet democracy insists on patience and forbearance towards Iran, are we going to ignore them? Will they be scorned as Neville-Chamberlain-loving wusses? And do you think Iraqis might be just a little upset if we use their country as a staging point to attack Iran?
|
