"Bush Vigorously Defends Domestic Spying" (NCNews Online, 12/

From tmorange
Sent Saturday, December 24, 2005 12:10 pm
To media@ncnewsonline.com
Subject "Bush Vigorously Defends Domestic Spying" by Terence Hunt

Reporting on the December 19 press conference during which this
president defended his secret program to spy on American citizens
without a warrent, Terence Hunt wrote: "Bush said the electronic eavesdropping program, conducted by the
National Security Agency, lets the government move faster than the
standard practice of seeking a court-authorized warrant under the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act."

What Hunt failed to report was that Bush's claim is utterly bogus. The
court created under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)
to provide authorization for international wiretaps is specifically
designed to respond quickly to the type of requests in question. The
so-called FISA court regularly authorizes these warrants
within hours and even minutes. Moreover, in the case of "emergency"
situations in which the attorney general deems it necessary to
undertake surveillance immediately, the statute itself allows the
government to obtain a warrant up to 72 hours after starting the
necessary surveillance. Apparently the Times no longer requires its
reporters to fact-check.

"I am doing what you expect me to do," this president also stated.
Wrong again: we expect this president to obey the law that prohibits
spying on its own citizens without a warrent. And to be impeached when
he breaks the law.