Bush blocked probe into spying

What a surprise! From MSNBC.com:

WASHINGTON - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Tuesday that President Bush personally blocked Justice Department lawyers from pursuing an internal probe of the warrantless eavesdropping program that monitors AmericansÂ’ international calls and e-mails when terrorism is suspected.

The departmentÂ’s Office of Professional Responsibility announced earlier this year it could not pursue an investigation into the role of Justice lawyers in crafting the program, under which the National Security Agency intercepts some telephone calls and e-mail without court approval.

At the time, the office said it could not obtain security clearance to examine the classified program.

Under sharp questioning from Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Arlen Specter, Gonzales said that the president would not grant the access needed to allow the probe to move forward. "It was highly classified, very important and many other lawyers had access. Why not OPR?" asked Specter, R-Pa., referring to the Office of Professional Responsibility.

"“The president of the United States makes the decision,"” Gonzales told the committee hearing, during which he was strongly criticized on a range of national security issues by Specter and Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, the panelÂ’s senior Democrat.

In a book I recently read by Dan Brown (not The Davinci Code), the question is asked several times that can paraphrased slightly: "Who will guard the guardians?" ... "Who will watch the watchers?" ... "Who will spy on the spies?" Most of what the current administration does is secret. When they get caught, they lie about it. The NSA spying is a perfect case in point: there was outrage, and rightly so, when it was first exposed. To which Bush said, Trust me: We're only spying on international terrorists and their national contacts. Then it came out that he was spying on calls that were not international in nature. To which Bush said, Trust me: We're only spying on terrorists wherever they are hiding. Then it came out that he was spying on peace groups and religious organizations, unions and political opponents. To which Bush said, Trust me: We're only spying to protect you.

It should come as no surprise that the Administration, and President Bush himself, has constantly worked to keep secret what they are actually doing. We need to wake up to the fact that Bush is simply a handy abbreviation for BUllSHit, because that describes perfectly the lies that Administration officials, again, including the President, continue to feed the American people.

Who will guard the guardians? The open secret that is key to the USA's success, identity, and, yes, even security is that the public are the best guardians of all; that the people deserve to and ought to know the truth; that the citizens should be entrusted with the right and benefit of having all the information possible before them and then deciding for themselves. Are there matters of national security that should be kept from the general public? Absolutely. Are the details of this or any President's personal war on the Constitution an example of privileged information? Hell no!