Posted on 12/21/2005 5:25:25 AM PST by Kimberly GG
WEB-EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY By Jonathan Alter Newsweek Updated: 6:17 p.m. ET Dec. 19, 2005
Dec. 19, 2005 - Finally we have a Washington scandal that goes beyond sex, corruption and political intrigue to big issues like security versus liberty and the reasonable bounds of presidential power. President Bush came out swinging on Snoopgate—he made it seem as if those who didn’t agree with him wanted to leave us vulnerable to Al Qaeda—but it will not work. We’re seeing clearly now that Bush thought 9/11 gave him license to act like a dictator, or in his own mind, no doubt, like Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War.
No wonder Bush was so desperate that The New York Times not publish its story on the National Security Agency eavesdropping on American citizens without a warrant, in what lawyers outside the administration say is a clear violation of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. I learned this week that on December 6, Bush summoned Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger and executive editor Bill Keller to the Oval Office in a futile attempt to talk them out of running the story. The Times will not comment on the meeting, but one can only imagine the president’s desperation.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
..yawn......
Newsweek. Now there's a winner. I'm old enough to remember a time when Newsweek and Time were respected publications and not tabloids. And MTV used to show videos too.
Hey johnny jihad altar, that is exactly what you want to do. You and your liberal democrat cohorts.
CLINTON ADMINISTRATION SECRET SEARCH ON AMERICANS -- WITHOUT COURT ORDER
CARTER EXECUTIVE ORDER: 'ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE' WITHOUT COURT ORDER
Bill Clinton Signed Executive Order that allowed Attorney General to do searches without court approval
Clinton, February 9, 1995: "The Attorney General is authorized to approve physical searches, without a court order"
WASH POST, July 15, 1994: Extend not only to searches of the homes of U.S. citizens but also -- in the delicate words of a Justice Department official -- to "places where you wouldn't find or would be unlikely to find information involving a U.S. citizen... would allow the government to use classified electronic surveillance techniques, such as infrared sensors to observe people inside their homes, without a court order."
Deputy Attorney General Jamie S. Gorelick, the Clinton administration believes the president "has inherent authority to conduct warrantless searches for foreign intelligence purposes."
Secret searches and wiretaps of Aldrich Ames's office and home in June and October 1993, both without a federal warrant.
Jimmy Carter Signed Executive Order on May 23, 1979: "Attorney General is authorized to approve electronic surveillance to acquire foreign intelligence information without a court order."
END
The unrelenting search by the left for something on Bush so they may return to their favorite sports: Denigrating the United States and redistribution of other peoples' money.
Man, you are old!
Merry Christmas!
And the lies continue to mount. BTW, don't all Jonathan Alter columns require a "barf alert" warning? (LOL)
How does Jonathan Alter know the subject of the taps were American citizens as he claims?
Some might have been and then none may have been. How does he know?
nevermind the fact if you are going to give Alter, a writer for the Nation, space in newsweak, at least be consistent and let sean hannity or mark levine write a column....
LOL, a Carter speech writer helping the emeny?
Working for Newsweek?
"Yawn" is right!
This man is dispicable. I think what we IMMEDIATELY need to do is to switch from defense to offense.
Enough explaining to these morons that what Bush did was perfectly legal and enough trying to justify it based on what past President's have done.
Our focus (and that of the Bush Administration) needs to immediately change to OFFENSE. I'd like to see all Republican leadership who appear on tv, no matter what the reason, discuss our determination to discover WHO is responsible for leaking this information and on the steps that need to be taken to punish them to the fullest extent of the law.
I certainly hope that the Republican leadership does NOT allow themselves to remain on the defense about this for months and months to come. Real crimes have been committed and must be prosecuted, our lives may depend on it.
Alter will be on the Bill O'Reilly radio show today. Whether you like Bill or not, he will chew Alter up and spit him out.
"Finally we have a Washington scandal that goes beyond sex, corruption...."
I thought he was going to say...."And goes into the mysterious death of a White House lawyer, whose body was found laying in an odd position, holding a gun, with carpet fibers all over his body, in Ft Marcy Park."
Or...."And goes into the mysterious death of the Secretary of Commerce, who was killed in a plane that for some odd reason, did not have a black-box...the secretary's briefcase, which purportedly held evidence of administration trading of seats on commerce trips in exchange for political donations, has not been found."
Or.... "And goes into the mysterious disappearance of top-secret files from America's Sandia labs..."
Or... "And goes into the transfer of missle technology from Loral (a big contributor) to Communist China."
But nooooooooooooo!!!
Before he sits down to write this tripe, does Jonny-boy take vicadin?
wow.....you were faster than I was at replying to my own post.
This article was a topic of discussion on O'Reilly last night. Obviously Atler did not appear, so I went hunting for this article.
Yes.....I should have added GAG, GAG, GAG
Man, Hewitt eviscerated Alter -- great stuff!
I also heard part of Hannity's radio show on Monday that was hosted by a sub named Mark Simone - that guy is great. Probably one of the best interviewers I've heard. He is relentless at getting a question answered. He will not tolerate spin and he is loaded with facts.
Alter, the lefty loon, will be on with O'Reilly tonight...unfortunately not for as long as Hewitt had him. Bill already lit into his comments last night.
Yes, he really showed how completely ill-informed Alter was on very topic he was writing.
"Newsweek. Now there's a winner."....Alter,Alterman same litter box........The Oliphants same.........
I'm still waiting on Michael Moore's analysis of this. And what about Wavy Gravy, has he chimed in yet? Kanye West?
About as legit as a Jonathan Alter Newsweek piece.
Never trust anyone who always looks like they're ready to burst into tear. Alter has a permanent pout on his face.
Now that I think about it, if we enforced the sedition laws Jonathan Alter would be in prison.
Nobody believes anything this Leftie says anymore. he couldn't review Mary Mapes book in the NYT Review of Books without talking out of both sides of his mouth.
This punk was on Imus a few years ago and asked Imus where he got the tapes of Richard Nixon and General Patton. Imus had to inform him that they were done by his staff, that Nixon and Patton were dead. He is so out of it that he can only write for a rag like Newsweek.
Alter=liberal agenda!
Alter does not work for me.
Every President since Roosevelt has asserted and exercised the inherent authority to wiretap foreign powers for national security purposes without a warrant.
Alter's entire opinion on the subject is based on a completely false premise, namely that it is illegal and unconstitutional for a President to do this. To the contrary, no court considering the question has ever said that, and all courts commenting on the subject have expressly recognized the President's inherent authority. Congress in passing FISA and the 9/14/01 resolution also recognized the President's inherent authority. Congress has no authority to impair the President's inherent Article II powers. If resort must be made to the statute, the use of force was authorized, and this type of surveillance is inherent in and a necessary concomitant to the use of force, just like detention was found to be in the Hamdi (or is Hamdan) case.
So, the lefty position on this issue is wrong, ignorant and stoopid. God Bless Hugh Hewitt, and thanks to Jonathan Alter for revealing himself to be such a clown. The left's position is also extremely dangerous and extremely foolish politically. Their platform now consists of a high pitched nasal whine that George Bush is awfully mean to terrorists. Yes, he certainly is.
Strategery or not, the left has now rushed into a position which is wrong, stupid, dangerous, and politically insane. Right where we want 'em. Life is Good!
Yeah, and I bet Alter has written countless columns demanding the release of the Barrett Report also - NOT.
NewsLEAK...Sen. Levin, call your office!
Alter must have missed Bartlett's tagline: "This is the LATE Richard M. Nixon".
What a doofus!
I have to wonder why the President was so naive as to believe that he could dissuade Sulzberger from publishing the details of this surveillance program. If anything, he was inviting him to do so by the expedient of a face to face meeting (which Sulzberger probably demanded as the price for hearing the President out). How did we go from Dick Cheney's comments about Adam Clymer (which show that both he and the President had a pretty good idea of where the NYT stood editorially), to having guys like Scooter Libby literally "sleeping with the enemy"?
I wonder if "Senator Depends" (Leaky Leahy )had anything to do with this?
bump
I think alter put the preperation-H in his ear and blew his brains out.
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