Bush vows to continue domestic spying

That's like a headline from the Onion. Sadly, this is no joke. From the AP via the Houston Chronicle:

In opening news conference remarks, Bush said the warrantless spying, conducted by the National Security Agency, was an essential element in the war on terror.

"It was a shameful act for someone to disclose this important program in a time of war. The fact that we're discussing this program is helping the enemy," he said.

On Capitol Hill, Democrats rejected Bush's rationale and said he had abused his authority.

"Where does he find in the Constitution the authority to tap the wires and the phones of American citizens without any court oversight?" said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.

Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., said, "We will not tolerate a president who believes that he is the sole decision-maker when it comes to the policies that this country should have in the war against terror and the policies we should have to protect the rights of completely innocent Americans."

"He is the president, not a king," Feingold said.

Click here for the rest.

Well, I guess I've finally figured out what the White House talking points are for the NSA wiretapping scandal. They're something to the effect of "Yeah, sure, we did it, and it was the right thing to do, and we're going to keep on doing it, and the New York Times is treasonous for reporting that we did it." Of course, that's all a bunch of bullshit: they went waaaay outside the law for this operation, and thank god the Times finally reported it after sitting on it for a year. But you've got to admire Bush's balls on this. It's the same kind of trumped up arrogance that plays well on right-wing talk radio and among the lunatic fringe. Now they've all got something to beat their chests in self-righteousness about while they're avoiding all the inconvenient facts that make Bush out to be worse than Nixon. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. Clearly, this strategy has Karl Rove's hands all over it--when backed into a corner, don't even try to defend yourself; attack with both guns blazing. That ought to confuse the mainstream news media, continually caught up in their he-said-she-said philosophy of political coverage, just enough to give the White House some breathing room on this. But a good number of Republicans are pissed off, too. There are going to be Senate hearings in a few weeks, and that's brand new territory for Rove--he might not be as adept on this playing field. Looks like we're going to find out just how brilliant "Bush's Brain" actually is.

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