The dedicated patriots in the Bush Adminstration are commited to defending our liberties through the Patriot Act right up to the point where the Patriot Act itself proves an affront to our liberties. Now that a certain lax approach to National Security Letters explodes in the headlines, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller jump to the head of the line to face the cameras.
It's time to act patriotic. And responsible. Announcing responsibility is new for members of the administration.
“How could this happen?” Mr. Mueller asked rhetorically in a briefing at the headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. “Who is to be held accountable? And the answer to that is I am to be held accountable.”
No account? Beyond a failure to report what it was doing with the NSLs, the Bush administration did things the even NSLs don't allow. Exigent circumstances is the excuse even when exigent emergency circumstances did not exist. The bar sinks lower and lower for invasion of privacy. The letter of the law has been broken with these National Security Letters. The spirit may suffer far worse. Whether Bush believes he can do anything he wants remains an open question. He may feel he has to destroy our liberty in order to save it.
Certain officials now seem willing to take responsibility for what happened (or just what we know happened), but nobody is responsible enough to resign. Will we all remain resigned to not knowing what the know it alls don't want us to know? Stay tuned for Acting Patriotic, Part Duh.
Plus calling Claude Rains.
