LAT: Bush Stretches to Defend Surveillance (SOTU facts,figures disputable)

[DeepModem Mom]

Bush Stretches to Defend Surveillance
The president's justification for his spy program has disputable roots, as do some of the facts and figures he put forth in his speech.

By Peter Wallsten and Maura Reynolds, Times Staff Writers


WASHINGTON — President Bush received a roaring ovation Tuesday for his prime-time defense of wiretapping phone calls without warrants. But Bush's explanation relied on assumptions that have been widely questioned by experts who say the president offers a debatable interpretation of history.

Defending the surveillance program as crucial in a time of war, Bush said that "previous presidents have used the same constitutional authority" that he did. "And," he added, "federal courts have approved the use of that authority."

Bush did not name names, but was apparently reiterating the argument offered earlier this month by Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales, who invoked Presidents Lincoln, Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt for their use of executive authority.

However, warrantless surveillance within the United States for national security purposes was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1972 — long after Lincoln, Wilson and Roosevelt stopped issuing orders. That led to the 1978 passage of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that Bush essentially bypassed in authorizing the program after the Sept. 11 attacks....

***

Bush's historical reference on domestic spying marked one of several points in his speech in which he backed up assertions with selective uses of fact, or seemed to place a positive spin on his own interpretation....


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-truth1feb01,0,1999790.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[Not_So_Right_Wing]

1. Bush is a liar...

nothing new.

[primavera]

7. That sums it up, alright

I always wonder why people make such a fuss over the SOTU address. I mean, I doubt so much as a single syllable of truth has ever escaped the shrub's lips, so there's already no point in listening to anything he has to say. Beyond that, SOTU is more heavily scripted and staged than televised wrestling. So who has even the faintest expectation that anything said in it will be anything other that the purest propaganda piffle?

[grytpype]

2. a lying incompetent wanna-be dictator

and the worst president ever

[rock]

3. "previous presidents have owned slaves"

I wonder what conclusion I should jump to?

[gratuitous]

4. The "no duh" award for the LA Times

Gee, a criminal accused of a crime selectively uses facts and seems to place a positive spin on his own actions and interpretations! Stop the fucking presses! Nothing like that has ever happened before!

Instead of reporting the glaringly fucking obvious, how about doing a little analysis to call the President a bald-faced liar? Or are you still pissing yourselves over the prospect of challening Mr. Popular Wartime President? His approval ratings are hovering in Mussolini territory, guys. When are you Nervous Nellies of the Fourth Estate going to get the courage to call a spade a spade?

[sundancekid]

5. K&R - should get this kind of press (we bitch we want) on Greatest Page

[BlueStater]

6. Are there going to be hearings on this soon?

Or an investigation or something?