My letter tp the editor regarding wiretapping....

[Postman]

Why Bush Dodged FISA

It's about spying on "hostile" Democrats, "independent minded" Republicans and "honest" journalists. The enemy to this administration is, THE TRUTH.

The FISA Court, created due to Nixon's illegal activities, never prevented the Executive Branch from spying on anyone. The reason for the FISA Court is to inform some other branch of government what it is that you are spying on, a check against abuse of power.

This is why he has avoided the FISA Court. To spy on threats to him and the right-wing of the republican party's hold on power.

There are reasons for them to worry. Many inept bunglings of this regime threaten to bring down Bush, Cheney and the republican controlled Congress.

The felonious war in Iraq and its inept aftermath along with the way intelligence was manipulated, the ongoing Valerie Plame investigation, the Jack Abramoff republican bribery scandal, the glacial speed of the Hurricane Katrina response.

Some argue It's reasonable to allow electronic surveillance of Americans. Right-wingers would argue - what's to worry if you have nothing to hide.

I have nothing to hide. Bush and the right-wing republicans -do. Maybe they should heed the advice of their hero- Ronald Reagan - "trust but verify"

[Wheezy]

1. Very nice!

Here's mine -- I just penned one this afternoon too. Because of my highly Republican region, I decided to take a different approach -- hat tip to jsamuel for the inspiration:

To the Editor:

During Monday's Terrorist Surveillance hearing, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee that President Bush broke no laws when refusing to get warrants for the wiretapping of Americans. Gonzales explained that the "inherent authority" of the president, as it is written in the Constitution, gives the president the authority to secretly ignore laws passed by Congress.

ALL Americans need to carefully think this through. Senator Jon Kyl, who barely questioned Gonzales during the hearing, should reconsider his staunch support of a too-powerful president. Our Senators must realize that if the president ignores the law, the power of congress diminishes. Our branches of government then become unequal, and the system begins to crumble.

This issue is not about whether the U.S. should wiretap terrorists – no one opposes that. And it is not about safety. There is no reason for America’s safety to be unlawful.

Simply put, the law says President Bush needs a warrant – a ‘check’ by another branch of government – before wiretapping Americans. But President Bush didn’t follow the law. He didn't request the warrants. He broke the boundary of his constitutional powers, and he broke the barrier surrounding our constitutional rights. He decided the executive branch of government doesn’t need to answer to anyone but it. He dissed the 200-year-old system.

President Bush decided that Congress’s laws don’t apply to him. Why aren’t Republicans outraged? Do we really want to allow him to continue to secretly break the law? Do we really want to set this precedent? What if the next president is a Democrat?

signed,
<me>