Gonzales Defends Surveillance

Gonzales Defends Surveillance: "Gonzales Defends Surveillance
Senators From Both Parties Challenge Attorney General on Program
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 7, 2006; Page A01

"Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales spent more than seven hours yesterday sparring with skeptical lawmakers over a controversial domestic eavesdropping program, defending its legality while refusing to answer dozens of questions about its operations or whether President Bush has authorized other types of warrantless searches or surveillance in the United States."

Sparring? It appeared to me that he spent a lot of time placating the already convinced ultra-conservatives like Orrin Hatch and John Cornyn, and dodging genuine hard-core questions from people like Dick Durbin, Patrick Leahy and Diane Feinstein. Here was a man that held one of the highest positions in the legal profession in Texas, and currently holding the second highest legal position available at the federal level, who could not (according to his own words) speak to the constitutional issues when questioned about them before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"Gonzales also suggested in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee that the administration had considered a broader effort that would include purely domestic telephone calls and e-mail but abandoned the idea in part due to fears of the negative public reaction."

Let us be clear. These taps do involve US citizens. The FBI confirms that. The AG used an analogy of a flight from the US to Poland (and back) to compare the wiretapping, but such an analogy is inherently faulty and misleading. In the plane analogy the plane and the person that might be on the government's radar scope actually leaves his home, boards a commerical plane and travels. There are no laws that prevent surveillance on this type of activity, and the surveillance of such a person would primarily be mechanical in nature. In the case of wiretapping, the person doesn't leave a zone of expected privacy, has an expectation of privacy based on the Constitution and several federal and state laws, never leaves the country and the government has not established probable cause for the inherent invasion of privacy that is wiretapping. The tactics of the administration and AG Gonzalez is to divide and conquer. In the Art of War , Sun Tzu tells us to "make a big noise in the east and attack the enemy in the west." Bush and his cohorts have mastered this form of distraction, but seem to be using the tactic on we, the people. When did we become the enemy?

"Before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales declined to answer specific questions about domestic spying."

How can an official of the United States of America refuse to answer questions duly submitted by congress on matters pertaining to the laws paased by that congress? Executive privilege does not provide for such refusal to answer questions on matters of legality. If the answers are of importance to national security, then let the administration request a closed hearing, sworn testimony, and under the seal of secrecy as provided by the rules of the Senate. Or put the hearings under the Senate Intelligence Committee and allow some members (both sides) from the Judiciary Committee to sit in and participate. But let us stop having the President, the Vice President, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State and the Attorney General urinate on our pant legs and tell us it is raining. We are not that stupid.