George W. Bush Is A Genius!

Chad Marlow

George W. Bush Is A Genius!

Well, not really. But you can't help but give the guy this year's Unbelievable Chutzpa Award. Think about it. The President has the New York Times catching his White House (and turns out, it was W. himself) ordering the illegal surveillance of dozens of not hundreds of American citizens on American soil by the National Security Administration. Warrants? Who has time for warrants? We're fighting terrorists and other evil-doers here!

Now talk about getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar. Substitute the Washington Post and Democratic Campaign Headquarters at the Watergate into the present scenario and I think you'll see the broader implications of where this could go. Now, what in the world is W. going to do? Panic? Absolutely not! Instead, he reasons, (perhaps correctly) that no President of the United States would dare stand up before an audience - even a hand-picked one - and admit he took actions that were illegal, unconstitutional and, perhaps, indictable. Why that would be a sure ticket to impeachment!

Exactly.

So W. decides to comes clean and admit he ordered the constitutionally-suspect surveillance and, get this, he plans to keep on doing it! After the audible thud of the White House Press Corps' chins collectively hitting the floor, the rest of the county was left to ponders the implications of the President's statement. What did most people conclude? "I guess the what he did can’t be that bad if the guy just admitted to it on national television!" That's just what W. was looking for, and the conclusion is entirely wrong - Bush's actions are starting to reflect the same utter distain for the Constitution that Nixon had. And if the world was just, both would meet the same fate as President. But let's face it, they probably won't. After all, in the 24 hour news cycle, its already distraction time. So Bush holds a prime-time, national address on Iraq (where the mea culpa-fest continues with a "my bad" coming from W. on the Iraq's non-existent WMDs) and then follows it up with another press conference the following morning. Now I can't even remember what the guy did that was so wrong.

Comments

So THAT explains the clicking sound I've been getting on my phone since before the RNC...

seriously though, I also recommend folks read the Village Voice article on how the NYPD is carrying similar tactics out in NYC.
http://villagevoice.com/news/0550,murphy,70935,6.html

and read this on America's long history of spying on ourselves.

http://villagevoice.com/news/0551,ridgeway,71106,2.html

While many people take advantage of scandals such as this one to criticize the President for living in outer space, or a bubble, I believe these criticisms are unfair. George is very aware of the crimes he and his administration have committed, and that he can completely ignore the illegality of his actions is more of a skill than a fault.

You could compare it to the ability to walk confidently into a party that you?re not invited to... which could serve as a metaphor for his entire presidency. Don't be shocked by his arrogance. He's been practicing since December 12, 2000, the date the Supreme Court (temporarily?) disenfranchised voters in Florida and rest of the United States by appointing him President.

George doesn't expect the American people to forget what he is doing. He figures that his confidence in defying law and the Constitution will eventually make pinko liberals realize his administration is acting in the interest of the American people. After all, he only taps the phones of evildoers.

Actually many of us have known this was going on for years as we've lived at the short-end of it.

But like Elana said- I've mostly been spied on by the NYPD. I'm not aware of being spied on by NSA but I figure they aren't as obvious when they try to infiltrate meetings as the cops are. At least for the sake of catching REAL terrorists, I hope the NSA isn't as blundering (and wasting time spying on Anti-War protesters). That's prob too much to expect isn't it.

It's a little late, but I am still angry with John Kerry's rantings. It just sounded like, in the debates and on the campaign trail, that John Kerry was creating mythical realities about what Bush and other Republicans stand for, just to win an election. He didn't come across as forthright.

Mark C