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What a phony: "The existence of this secret program was revealed in media reports after being improperly provided to news organizations. As a result, our enemies have learned information they should not have, and the unauthorized disclosure of this effort damages our national security and puts our citizens at risk." His enemies being -- the Senate? The American public?
And guess what. His own White House, including his deputy chief of staff, and his vice president's chief of staff, improperly gave classified information to the news media as well, about Valeria Plame (as just the most obvious example). And Bush has no problem with that. What a phony. Bush's crew use the classification argument to evade scrutiny of their law breaking, at times, and at others, deliberately violate classification rules when it serves their political ends. What a complete and total phony.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein calls Bush on another aspect of his phony argument here. That briefing a few Senators on the illegal program while restricting them from discussing it constitutes oversight -- or legality:
What is the Senatorial equivalent of refusing an illegal order from a commander? And where should White House crimes be reported?Feinstein said that informing a handful of members of Congress who are restricted from reporting or responding to the information in any way did not make the policy legal or constitute congressional oversight.
"What is concerning me, as a member of the Intelligence Committee, is if eight people, rather than 535 people, can know there is going to be an illegal act and they were told this under an intelligence umbrella — and therefore, their lips are sealed — does that make the act any less culpable? I don't think so," Feinstein said.
So since everybody admits the president has acted repeatedly and deliberately outside the law, with the knowledge and participation of Alberto Gonzales, Harriet Miers, and others, now what?Mr. Bush did not address the main question directed at him by some members of Congress on Friday: why he felt it necessary to circumvent the system established under current law, which allows the president to seek emergency warrants, in secret, from the court that oversees intelligence operations. His critics said that under that law, the administration could have obtained the same information.
And as my friend John says, it's increasingly clear that quagmire in Iraq is the only thing that has saved us from a police state under these guys. We should give thanks to the Iraqis.
More from Judd Legum.