Alberto Gonzales Stays Up Past His Bedtime

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales must have stayed up way past his bedtime last night trying to come up with a reason under the law that allows the President to authorize secret domestic spying without a court order.

He said the 2001 Afghanistan war resolution, passed shortly after the
attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, trumped the 1978 law forbidding eavesdropping
without court approval, because the law, the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act, makes an exception for surveillance "otherwise
authorized by congress."

Congress "otherwise authorized" eavesdropping in the resolution, he argued.

That resolution makes no reference to eavesdropping or of detention
policies. The administration has cited it in justification of both,
however.

So if you follow this line of reasoning, George W. Bush can authorize any illegal activity, from eavesdropping to anal rape, as long as he cites "fighting the terr'ists" as the reason.

Let Freedom Ring.