Our government… teaches the whole people by its example. If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. – Louis D. Brandeis
Today’s New York Times editorial expresses their concerns about last week’s Senate debate of the FISA Amendments Act of 2007.
The Senate debated a bill that would make needed updates to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act — while needlessly expanding the president’s ability to spy on Americans without a warrant and covering up the unlawful spying that President Bush ordered after 9/11.
The Democrat who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee, John Rockefeller of West Virginia, led the way in killing amendments that would have strengthened requirements for warrants and raised the possibility of at least some accountability for past wrongdoing.
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Congress was certainly not informed, and if Mr. Ashcroft or later Alberto Gonzales certified anything under oath, it’s a mystery to whom and when. The eavesdropping went on for four years and would probably still be going on if The Times had not revealed it.
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So Mr. Rockefeller and other senators want to give the companies immunity even if the administration never admits they were involved. This is short-circuiting the legal system. If it is approved, we will then have to hope that the next president will be willing to reveal the truth.
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This whole nightmare was started by Mr. Bush’s decision to spy without warrants — not because they are hard to get, but because he decided he was above the law. Discouraging that would be a service to the nation.
Funny that they should bring up “service to the nation.” You might recall that The New York Times sat on the story for over a year before they published it in December 2004. That’s right, AFTER the 2004 election.
In today’s editorial, they have the audacity to say how this program “would probably still be going on” if they had not revealed it. They also argue that Bush’s wiretapping program was illegal, so the Senate should not vote to circumvent the legal system by granting immunity to the telecommunications companies involved. If the Senate does pass the bill and Bush is not held accountable as he should be, then they “hope that the next president will be willing to reveal the truth.”
Had The New York Times released the story before a very close 2004 election, we might already be beyond “hoping.” We might already have a new president, and he probably would have revealed the truth.
The New York Times failed in its service to the nation by not reporting the story in time for the people of this country to assimilate it and factor it into their choice for president in November 2004. The Times was complicit in allowing the illegal wiretapping program to continue on unchecked for a whole year after they found out about it, and they are disingenuous now because they do not admit that they were part of the very problem they addressed in today’s editorial.
P.S. If you want the lowdown on why Jay Rockefeller joined sides with The Dark Lord to undermine our civil liberties, read Glenn Greenwald.