Taylor Marsh – TaylorMarsh.com – News, Opinion and Weblog on Progressive Politics

NSA Wiretapping: Between Bush and the Democrats –updated–

UPDATE (10:25 a.m.): Colin Powell finally stands up.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell on Thursday endorsed efforts by three Republican senators to block President Bush's plan to authorize harsh interrogations of terror suspects. The latest sign of GOP division over White House security policy came in a statement that Powell sent to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., one of the rebellious lawmakers. Powell said that Congress must not pass Bush's proposal to redefine U.S. compliance with the Geneva Conventions, a treaty that sets international standards for the treatment of prisoners of war. (snip) “The world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism,” said Powell, who served under Bush and is a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “To redefine Common Article 3 would add to those doubts. Furthermore, it would put our own troops at risk.” … Powell endorses efforts to block Bush's terrorist plan

photo: Jamie Rose for The New York Times

Talk about a picture crying out for a caption.

Talk about a city in search of leadership. Senator Bill Frist has a rubber stamp imbedded in his forehead, so that when George W. Bush asks for something, he bends over in a bow to stamp it done.

The. Worst. Senate Majority Leader. Ever. And I use the word “leader” loosely, very, very loosely.

The Judiciary Committee approved a special Bush bill that will “allow — but not require,” according to the Washington Post, that Bush have his NSA spying shenanigans sent to the secret FISA court to see if they pass the constitutional smell test.

The. Worst. Congress. Ever.

The Republicans are going to suggest President Bush follow the law of this land, but they will not “require” that he follow the law. Why bring this up now you ask? So the Democrats can be seen fighting for the Constitution and our troops, and the Republicans can call them soft on terror.

Cue John Boehner.

Un-American sycophants, the lot of them. Jefferson and Franklin would have nothing to do with the current crop of Republicans in power.

That said, as of right now, there are three Republicans in the Senate who still have a spine. Taking odds on how long that lasts.

The White House political strategy in the past week has been twofold: first, putting Mr. Bush in the public spotlight with a string of national security speeches, and now, trying to put Democrats in a box by forcing them to take a stand and vote on Mr. Bush’s authority to run two of his most controversial antiterror programs. But Senators Warner, McCain and Graham appeared to be providing cover for the Democrats, allowing them to stay on the sidelines while the three senators, respected Republicans with distinguished military records, take on the White House. “We think that this is a sincere effort, based on principle, by Senators Warner, McCain and Graham, to come up with the best legislation they can,” said Senator Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island and a member of the Armed Services Committee. Asked whether Democrats were worried that the Republicans might yield to the White House, Mr. Reed said: “I haven’t seen any evidence of that yet. What I’ve seen is that they’re approaching this looking at the substance, not just over weeks and months, but what’s in the best interests of the United States, what’s in the best interests of American military personnel who might years from now be held.” … Panel in Senate Backs Bush Plan for Eavesdropping

Hey Senator McCain, is that a shiv in your back, or are you finally getting the message from Bush?

If only eavesdropping was our only problem. Don't look now but here
we go again.