Lemme Get This Straight...

The Justice Department is responsible for holding people to account if they run afoul of the law - even the President. So before the President could proceed with a wiretapping program that the administration knew was most likely illegal, they went to the DoJ to get clearance. To cover their asses, so to speak. The didn't think it would be a problem, since they had installed hard-core wingnut John Ashcroft at the helm of that department.

But, lo and behold, he refused to sign off on it, because he knew it was illegal. So now the administration is in a dilemma, they have to twist some arms at Justice or else take a chance on running with the program anyway - and potentially bringing criminal charges upon themselves later.

So they wait until Ashcroft is near catatonic, in the intensive care unit of the hospital, and they send the President's lawyer, and his Chief of Staff into the ICU to try and pressure the guy - under heavy sedation, mind you - to sign off on the program.

All of this is in James Comey's testimony to Congress.

In the end, they had to water down the program, so far as we know, because the one they wanted was clearly illegal.

Think about what happened next: Ashcroft resigns, and so the President installed his personal lawyer, Alberto Gonzales, to head the department. Thing is, Gonzales was the lawyer who went to the ICU that night to pressure the head of the Department of Justice. Now you know that whatever the Pres asks of Justice, he gets, no questions asked, and nobody even has to know about it.

So you wonder why the President won't ask for Gonzales's resignation, no matter how little confidence the Legislative Branch or the people of the United States have in him? Imagine how difficult it would be now for the President to get a patsy as big as this one through confirmation hearings. No, the President won't ask the AG to resign; he's probably begging him to stay.

Equivalence

A wacko talk radio asshole called "Gunny" Bob Newman says:

"I want every Muslim immigrant to America who holds a green card, a visa, or who is a naturalized citizen to be required by law to wear a GPS tracking bracelet at all times. And the FBI and the NSA should monitor their phones and their emails, all communications -- electronic -- at all times, as well as bug their places of work and their residences. If they don't like the idea, or if they refuse, throw their asses out of this country."

The thing that got me was the "Muslim" thing. Do people actually have to state their religion when they immigrate to the States? Because this guy says the law should apply differently to someone based on their religion. That absurdity aside, don't you think if a malevolent group of people wanted to immigrate and cause harm, they'd just, I don't know, say they weren't Muslims?

Or, to the larger point, doesn't this guy, when he says "Muslim", actually mean "anyone from the Middle East"? But then, what about Morocco, the Sudan, etc.? To identify the bracelet-wearers upon entry, you'd have to expand the identification requirements to include every immigrant from the Middle East or Africa. While we're at it, why don't we just include all people who differ by any noticeable degree from those who look like "Gunny" Bob, or the people in his neighborhood in Colorado?

Now let's consider how this would work if the shoe were on the other foot. Imagine if there were a militant Christian group in the United States who decided to take it upon themselves to wage war against Muslims. Let's say they got together and hatched a plan to blow up a Mosque. The equivalent reaction would be for some reactionary Muslims to believe that ALL Christians (and then ALL Americans, and then ALL non-Muslim non-Middle Easterners) were responsible for the acts of this small militant group.

The reason the larger public has this reaction in this country is because we don't have any understanding of cultures outside the mini-mall. Not only that, lots of people in this country are proud of their isolationism and lack of understanding.

It's always true that the greatest fear is that of the unknown.