Checks And Balances

King George Doesn't Need Three Branches of Government

"Members of Congress have been known to vote for legislation they haven't read. But is it possible Congress authorized warrantless wiretaps without realizing it? That's what President Bush implies when he defends the National Security Agency's warrantless eavesdropping on Americans' phone calls and e-mail messages by citing the Authorization for Use of Military Force that Congress approved three days after the September 11 terrorist attacks. More fundamentally, Bush seems to believe the Constitution gives him the power to authorize this surveillance, no matter what Congress or the courts might have to say about it. Even people who have complete confidence in this president's good faith and good judgment should worry about his sweeping assertion of executive power, which has implications for his successors. In areas such as military tribunals, detention of 'enemy combatants,' and administrative subpoenas, Bush has shown an alarming tendency to cut the legislative and judicial branches out of decisions about how to prosecute a war on terrorism that will continue long after he leaves office. This combination of unilateralism with a perpetual state of emergency is a recipe for tyranny." - Reason's Jacob Sullum isn't buying President Bush's reasons for allowing the National Security Agency to spy on telephone calls and read e-mails of U.S. citizens.
http://www.reason.com/sullum/122105.shtml