From the Department of Unlikely Facts comes Alberto Gonzales’ assertion before the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday:
President Washington, President Lincoln, President Wilson, President Roosevelt have all authorized electronic surveillance on a far broader scale.
Hmm. I’m thinking one of those presidents probably didn’t authorize any kind of electronic surveillance. Hint: It’s not Roosevelt, Wilson, or Lincoln.
Not very sporting of you to reprint such falsities. Did you note that your source didn’t provide a link for the cited quote? Maybe that’s because he Made Shit Up.
Here’s Bloomberg’s version:
“[T]he Justice Department on Jan. 19 released an analysis that said the congressional resolution and Bush’s constitutional role as commander-in-chief gave him the power to order the wiretapping. The analysis said presidents during wartime, going back to Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, have sought to protect the country with surveillance that wasn’t authorized by court order.”
Or, if you’d prefer to read Gonzales’s actual statement…
“General Washington, for example, instructed his army to intercept letters between British operatives, copy them, and then allow those communications to go on their way. President Lincoln used the warrantless wiretapping of telegraph messages during the Civil War to discern the movements and intentions of opposing troops. President Wilson in World War I authorized the military to intercept each and every cable, telephone and telegraph communication going into or out of the United States.”
I. Pub:
Can you verify this video?
pwned.
Still, while it’s easy to point fingers and laugh at Gonzales’ verbal misstep, the essence of his remarks is pretty damn interesting.
Ouch.
As JC Whitmore points out, when Lincoln instituted his spying program, he didn’t walk, he RAN to congress to get support.
Unlike Bush, Lincoln acutally understood that the Constitution and the Union are more important than any other consideration. Bush would rather pound his chest and proclaim his unilatteral authority to trump the consitution, than take a considered approach to address real problems.
Bush knows the Constitution is more important for America than his warrantlesss wiretaps, but fear translates to electoral victory for him. Party and Power first; that’s the way of this failed adminstration. It’s also the way to history’s scrapyard. Bush is pounding his chest, proudly running towards it.
Stephen Colbert had a great bit about this on tonight’s episode. He’s upset that Washington’s super-covert program has been given away by Gonzales.
I. Publius thinks it wasn’t very sporting not to provide the website [web link] to the Gonzales statement. Golly, I.P., don’t you know how to use a search engine?
I saw Gonzales make the statement on the Colbert Report. I about dropped my teeth. Today, I used a search engine and found that the only ones to report the remark were bloggers. Where in the world have our real news people gone? It says a lot about the conservative media that we have to get some of our news from Comedy Central’s John Stewart and Steven Colbert on the great “news channel” Comedy Central.
Looks like the brain power Bush chooses to surround himself with isn’t much more than a watt or two above his own.