Progressive Minds

Wonderful quote from an op/ed in the New York Times:

"Just trust us. Mr. Bush made himself the judge of the proper balance between national security and Americans' rights, between the law and presidential power. He wants Americans to accept, on faith, that he is doing it right. But even if the United States had a government based on the good character of elected officials rather than law, Mr. Bush would not have earned that kind of trust. The domestic spying program is part of a well-established pattern: when Mr. Bush doesn't like the rules, he just changes them, as he has done for the detention and treatment of prisoners and has threatened to do in other areas, like the confirmation of his judicial nominees. He has consistently shown a lack of regard for privacy, civil liberties and judicial due process in claiming his sweeping powers. The founders of our country created the system of checks and balances to avert just this sort of imperial arrogance."

Well, to the New York Times op/ed staff, I would say: you hit this particular point home wonderfully, but why did you wait an entire year before reporting the spy story?

If you are really that concerned about the unitary executive, and BushCo's blind faith approach to politics, your organization: 1) should not have let one of its reporters carry the WMD water for the Administration and 2) should not have sat on the domestic spying story for an entire year before reporting it.

Spies, Lies and Wiretaps