At the hearing being held by the Judiciary Committee, Alberto Gonzalez tried in vain to blow off the many questions put to him by the Senators. As a NYT writeup points out:
"Senators from both parties who had long criticized the eavesdropping without court warrants said at a Judiciary Committee hearing that they welcomed the change but wanted details. They said they wanted to be sure that the new rules adequately protected Americans’ privacy."
But don't get excited my dear reader..Uncle Al wasn't forthcoming with details. Surely you aren't surprised that Uncle Al was tight lipped. I know I am not.
"Pressed repeatedly for details, Mr. Gonzales offered little new information and would not agree to provide more documents to explain the decision. He declined to answer questions about why the administration had reversed itself after saying for more than a year that the program could not operate effectively under court supervision."
True to form, Uncle Al invoked 9/11 with this remark: “There was a reason why we didn’t do this as an initial matter shortly after the attacks of Sept. 11,”--Thanks Al. Anyone told you lately that your a vile, nasty, unamerican prick without a conscience? 9/11 happened over 5 years ago. For 5 years our government has been spying on Americans without warrants or due process.
There was a dim light at the end of the tunnel however, with this glimmer of hope coming out of the hearing:
"With Justice Department officials unwilling to provide lawmakers with documents, lawmakers explored other ways to obtain information. In response to a request from the Judiciary Committee chairman,Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, the presiding judge of the foreign intelligence surveillance court, Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, a federal district judge in the District of Columbia, said the court would be willing to turn over to the panel its classified orders."
But..they will ONLY turn over information if the executive branch and the legislative branch agree on turning over the documents.
We know from past experience that the clowns in the Executive Branch don't turn ANYTHING over. They just scream and wring their hands announcing:
States Secrets Privilege.
Oh wait..Uncle Al didn't say yes, and he didn't say no..what he said was that he had to ask his daddy first..you know..the Decider-in_Chief:
“I’m not saying that I have objection to its being released. What I’m saying is it’s not my decision to make.”
Give me a break Uncle Al..your so full of shit your eyes are brown.
Tags: Politics, Bush, FISA, Warrantless Wiretapping, Federal Fuckwits at the Helm, Spying on Americans
