The Real Danger Behind BushCo's Illegal Wiretapping

Back in 2004, George W. Bush said that he didn't think The War On Terror was winnable:

When asked "Can we win?" the war on terror, Bush said, "I don’t think you can win it. But I think you can create conditions so that the — those who use terror as a tool are — less acceptable in parts of the world."

That is one of the few truthful things Bush has said so far as president. But as Gene Lyons notes, Bush's illegal wiretapping of American citizens takes on an enhanced degree of creepiness in the context of an unwinnable war:

If allowed to stand, Bush’s actions will have taken the United States a long way down the road to military dictatorship. Indeed, that’s essentially what his legalistic enablers, starting with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Vice President Dick Cheney, argue : that in wartime, the commander-in-chief can take any action he deems appropriate to protect the nation, bypassing Congress and the courts to assert the primacy of the presidency until declaring victory in the “war on terror.”

As terrorism is not an enemy, but a tactic—a vile, cowardly tactic, but by definition not subject to being defeated—the metaphorical war against it could last indefinitely. And as long as it lasts, the commander-in-chief rules by fiat. Our constitutional rights exist at his sufferance.

I'm hoping that Judge ScAlito is asked a lot of questions along these lines during his confirmation hearing. Senators Schumer and Kennedy appear willing to make these types of inquiries:

Alito's endorsement of expansive presidential authority can be found in speeches he made to the conservative Federalist Society and in a memo he wrote as a Justice Department lawyer in 1984, Schumer said.

In a separate news briefing, Kennedy added that in addition to the speeches and memo, Alito's 15-year record as an appellate judge also reveals a pattern of deferring to government authority. "We have to ask ourselves, is there any limit to executive authority that this nominee will recognize?" Kennedy said.

Could Alito's life-long goal of becoming a Supreme Court Justice be the first casualty of the PoliceStateGate Scandal (after the Constitution and The Bill of Rights, of course)? It should be an interesting confirmation hearing.

And speaking of The War On Terror -- at least Bush thinks it is part of the War on Terror -- eleven American soldiers were killed in Iraq yesterday:

The U.S. military on Friday announced the deaths of six more American troops killed in the recent barrage of violence that has swept Iraq, bringing to 11 the number of troops killed on the same day.

A U.S. Marine and soldier died in the attack by a suicide bomber who infiltrated a line of police recruits in Ramadi on Thursday, killing at least 58 and wounding dozens. Two soldiers were also killed in the Baghdad area when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb, the military said Friday.

In addition, two U.S. Marines were killed by separate small arms attacks while conducting combat operations in Fallujah, the military said.

Thursday was "the fourth deadliest day in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, with at least 136 total deaths, including the U.S. troops."