Going too Far (conversation in a bar)

William Rivers Pitt hits the bullseye again in his post on the DU (and probably on Truthout.org by now) about the slippery slope that Bush is skiing on to expand Executive powers.

Bush totally blew past them, said he didn’t need warrants from the FISA court, and just had the NSA start spying away on Americans.”

Ty’s response to this was too profane to be printed here.

“Why the hell’d he do that?” he finally asked.

“Good question,” I said. “There are two probable reasons, neither of which are very comfortable. The first reason is that he and Cheney want to expand the power of the Executive Branch. Cheney, specifically, has always felt that the Executive let go of too much power after Watergate and Vietnam, gave too much power to Congress and the press, and these guys have been trying to get it back. So they decided that, since
we are ‘at war,’ they were going to do whatever they damned well pleased.”

“Seems smart,” he said.

“Maybe,” I said, “but that’s a different debate. Ask yourself this, though. Imagine a Democrat wins the White House in 2008. These Bush guys will have left this Democrat with outrageously broad powers. They can spy on who they like, because Bush did it. They don’t have to get warrants, because Bush did it. They can lie to the press, because Bush did it. They can bulldoze Congress, because Bush did it. That make you comfortable?”

“Hell no,” he said.“

Right,” I said. “Too much power is too much power, no matter who is in power. The separation of powers is there for a reason.”

Click the link on the word "bullseye" to read the entire opinion. Whether one is Republican or Democrat or Independent, Pitt is correct. Bush has gone too far. and the "I-word" is getting around town.