Masson's Blog: Indy Star article on unsupervised Presidential spying on U.S. citizens

Doug Masson is an attorney practicing in Lafayette, Indiana. In a follow-up to Doug's post, Jason wonders what the federal government should be doing to protect us, if not warrantless searches. I suggest securing our southern border, for a start.

Doug writes:

The Indy Star has an article on the recent revelations that President Bush has authorized spying on United States citizens without even the rubber-stamp oversight of the FISA court...

First, these are not extraordinary times... To the contrary, I think these are extremely ordinary times. History is full of somebody done somebody wrong songs...

If I might posit a self-evident truth, certainly the Founders were not ignorant of a nation's executive's desire to impose his will on his subjects during times of war. If the authority to spy on one's citizens without approval of the Congress were something the Founders had in mind, I do not believe they would have overlooked writing it into the Constitution.

The Founders were smugglers who had just overthrown their own executive. They wrote protections into the Bill of Rights to limit the authority of the government. The Second Amendment right to bear arms. The Third Amendment prohibition against quartering troops in citizens' homes. The Fourth Amendment prohibition against warrantless searches and seizures. I doubt they just "forgot" to mention that the executive had the authority to conduct warrantless searches if we had entered into a war of choice in a foreign country or if some brigands knock down a few buildings.

Suffice it to say I do not share the Star's certainty that the President has powers that are anywhere near this far reaching even in a "war-time climate". Secret prisons. Torture. Military tribunals. Now, warrantless searches of U.S. citizens. It's time for Congress to assert the authority of its branch of government and come down on the President in a big way. They gave him some leeway. He's been abusing it. It's time to reel him in.

John M follows up:

In short, following FISA would have little or no practical effect on the ability of the Bush administration to monitor phone calls. The Bush administration is standing on principle. The principle, of course, is that the President’s Constitutional powers as commander-in-chief allow him to do whatever he wants, at home or abroad, even in the absence of a declared war. It is consistent with the Bush administration’s philosophy, which is the accumulation and exercise of executive power. As I said in a comment below, this is the sort of thing that should send a shiver down the spine of any Bush supporters who claim to be Jeffersonian, libertarian conservatives...

Would following FISA be “just as effective”? Probably not, although the difference would be minimal. It is more difficult to lead a nation that has constitutional protections than to rule one that does not. Unfortunately for King George IV, that is (or should be) part of the deal.

Masson's Blog: Indy Star article on unsupervised Presidential spying on U.S. citizens