Dear Leader: President Bush’s misleading statement in April 2004 about wiretaps has been widely quoted:
— President Bush, 2005
Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires — a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we’re talking about chasing down terrorists, we’re talking about getting a court order before we do so.
After reviewing Bush’s speeches from the past few years, Hardball’s David Shuster has uncovered other instances when the president made questionable statements about wiretaps:
SHUSTER: It’s clear the president was talking about the Patriot Act. But the April 20th, 2004, speech wasn’t the only time the president tried to placate public fears about wiretaps. Dozens of other [speeches] reviewed by HARDBALL show he repeatedly addressed the issue in a broad fashion, while claiming his administration was trying to protect people by the book.
BUSH: Everything you hear about requires a court order, requires there to be permission from a FISA court, for example.
BUSH: First of all, any action that takes place by law enforcement requires a court order. In other words, the government can’t move on wiretaps or roving wiretaps without getting a court order.
SHUSTER: And when it did come specifically to the Patriot Act, the president suggested the new law was all his administration needed.
BUSH: And so what the Patriot Act said is, let’s give our law enforcement the tools necessary—without abridging the Constitution of the United States—the tools necessary to defend America.
SHUSTER: Vice President Cheney reminded voters…
CHENEY: The Patriot Act was carefully written to protect the civil liberties that have long defined American democracy. All of the investigative tools I’ve described require the approval of a judge before they can be carried out.
SHUSTER: Even this year, long after the presidential campaign was over, the Bush administration again repeatedly praised electronic surveillance and the essential involvement of the federal courts.
BUSH: Roving wiretaps allow investigators to follow suspects who frequently change their means of communications. These wiretaps must be approved by a judge.
SHUSTER: And in seeking renewal of the Patriot Act, the president repeatedly underscored this.
BUSH: The judicial branch has a strong oversight role in the application of the Patriot Act. Law enforcement officers need a federal judge’s permission to wiretap a foreign terrorist’s phone or to track his calls or to search his property.
SHUSTER (on camera): So, while some speeches were in the context of the Patriot Act, it’s evident the president also spoke more generally about civil liberties and the importance of the federal courts. The flap over whether the president acted legally in bypassing the courts comes on the heels of polls showing the president was just starting to regain his credibility.
Up on a time not so long ago, if a born again Christian like G W Bush was found to be a liar, an oath breaker and/or a thief he would have been “read out” of his church….
And now,…comes George…who can not seem to tell the truth AT ALL, at any time…..and nothing happens except all the “king’s men” strive mightily to excuse his lies….
and HIS CHURCH stands mute….His own mother prates about her “beautiful mind” and how glad she is that George turned out to be as vacuous as she is…and at this last she is obviously correct….and the rest of us are left at the whim of a dysfunctional megalomaniac who either does not know that he is a pathological liar or who is so uncaring as to not give a tinkers dam….
…which almost makes me glad that I will not live much longer….
…Now isn’t that a hell of an attitude to take to your grave?….Thanks a lot you REPUBLICAN BASTARDS!
HEY BUSH the SOB making misleading STATEMENTS! HA HA HE HAS MISLEAD SINCE BEFORE HE WENT INTO OFFICE! HE DID NOT EVEN WIN THE ELECTION AGAINST GORE HIS BRO HELPED HIM STEAL IT! LOOK HOW HE TREATED SEN> MC CAIN! Mc Cain is low lifed for fooling with the BASTARD! THEN LOOK HOW HE TREATED JOHN KERRY IN HAVING ALL HIS BUDDIES BLACK BALL HIM TOO!!!! JOHN KERRY needs to get with JOHN MURTHA and TELL ALL THE OTHER DEMS TO STICK WITH THEM AND GET A PLAN TOGETHER AND GET OUR NATION BACK ON THE RIGHT PATH!!! FOR IT IS EVIDENT THAT THE LYING BASTARD IN THE WHITW HOUSE IS GOING TO CONTINUE LYING AND FINISH SCREWING US! HEY! OH YES! WHY DON’t THEY INVESTIGATE THE WIRETAPING DEAL FOR IT IS WHAT GOT THE SOB NIXON ALSO! THOUGHT HE WAS ABOVE THE LAW TOO!!!! LOOK! THEY INVESTIGATED CLINTONS CAT! WOW! AN’T IT MORE FEASIBLE AND IMPORTANT TO INVESTIGATE THIS BUSH BASTARD!!!!
DEMS GET OFF YOUR ASS AND PUT THE CONSTITUTION AND LAW BEHIND HIS ASS!
I have watched this administration abuse more civil liberties and outright lie no matter that the emperor has been exposed as naked. As an American that sees things for what they really are, it’s not just impeachment that is needed. No one seems to be talking about the responsibilities that we, as Americans, are charged with per the Declaration of Independence. No one also seems to remember the oaths taken when entering office. I read here that some people seem to know, but getting the message out is becoming increasingly difficult. Not that this is a newsflash by any means, but if people are craving leadership and want to talk about Patriotism, then we need to encourage them to reread and remember how this country fought and won it’s independence. Real history is not taught in schools today which is no way to honor the memories of those who have fought and died in ANY war for this Nation. People are not being taught what we, as a nation, did to become this nation. I’m not trying to preach, but when are we going to remember that we are charged with keeping our government in check?
The oath “Preserve, protect and defend, the Constitution against ALL enemies, foreign AND DOMESTIC”. The Declaration of Independence “Whenever ANY form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right, as well as the RESPONSIBILITY of the governed people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying it’s foundation on such principles and organizing it’s powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, the governments have long established should not be changed for light and transient causes. When a LONG TRAIN of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object envinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their DUTY to throw off such government and to provide new Guards for their future security.”
All this rhetorical crap thrown at us from this adminstration under the guise of patriotism is actually a perversion of what our forefathers fought and died for. It is also a crime of treason. No one is talking about that either. It’s not just a lack of education that has brought us here, but a lack of REAL patriotism. We have become decadent and complacent. Now, it is our time to act on our citizenship and our DUTY as Americans to get the real word out, and to show the rest of the world, our Naked Emperor and the fools following him.