"Michael Hayden is no Ray McGovern"

[Harper_is_Bush]

A warrantless nominee

If Democrats and vulnerable Republicans vote to confirm General Hayden as director of the CIA they may find themselves in political jeopardy.

May 10, 2006 11:05 AM |

"The appointment of General Hayden is the latest example of President Bush giving promotions to those who have led the greatest attacks on our constitution and fundamental freedoms," said Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, according to the Washington Post.

And Romero's right. This is a man who leading National Security Agency (NSA) expert James Bamford says was the architect - not simply defender - of an illegal program of domestic wiretapping.

In testimony before Congress, Hayden claimed that he was bound only by the fourth amendment requirement that searches be "reasonable". He conveniently disregards the second clause of the same amendment requiring warrants based on probable cause. And he completely ignores the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act requiring that judges determine whether probable cause exists.

Appointing Hayden would also contribute to an ominous concentration of power in a political system in which our constitutional checks and balances are being smothered by an imperial presidency. As William Christison, a CIA veteran of 27 years who retired as director of the agency's Office of Regional and Political Analysis, observes: "Goss, Hayden, Rumsfeld, Negroponte, Cheney and so on ... all these are beholden to George W Bush. They should be beholden to nobody to the extent possible; they should be beholden to telling the truth - that's what we need from our intelligence agencies. Unfortunately things are going in the opposite direction."

And as we face the spectre of another military conflict with Iran, isn't it likely Hayden will follow the Bush-Cheney-Rummy protocol of misusing, abusing, distorting, cherry-picking, manufacturing - call it what you will - intelligence?

In a nutshell - when it comes to truth telling and independence, Michael Hayden is no Ray McGovern.

And the bottom line is this: the Hayden vote is a litmus test vote. Along with how did you vote on John Ashcroft, how did you vote on Sam Alito, how did vote on the Bush tax cuts, will be did you vote for or against Michael Hayden based on his advocacy for - and his misleading testimony about - the NSA wiretapping program.

If Democrats and vulnerable Republicans like Lincoln Chaffee start singing Kumbaya and vote to confirm this guy - not only will they be doing the wrong thing for their nation's beleaguered democracy - they may well place themselves in significant political jeopardy with the impassioned voters who are going to matter in this election.
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/katrina_vanden_heuvel/2006/05/a_warrantless_nominee.html

http://bradblog.com/video/flvplayer/FlvPlayer.html?file=http://www.amerats

[Harper_is_Bush]

1. Well, glad everyone enjoyed that. I thought it was a good read too!

:)