Defending freedom by taking it away...

Looks like the country is buzzing with outrage over the revelation that Bush is shitting on the law and wiping his ass with the Constitution by illegally spying on Americans. I don't find the revelation particularly "stunning", as some of today's editorials describe it. What I do find somewhat stunning is the way that Bush arrogantly admits to the criminal acts as if he is an untouchable monarch (at best, or at frighteningly worst, a Messiah), above the law because he is the law...scary.

Since October, news accounts have disclosed a burgeoning Pentagon campaign for "detecting, identifying and engaging" internal enemies that included a database with information on peace protesters. A debate has roiled over the FBI's use of national security letters to obtain secret access to the personal records of tens of thousands of Americans. And now come revelations of the National Security Agency's interception of telephone calls and e-mails from the United States -- without notice to the federal court that has held jurisdiction over domestic spying since 1978. Defiant in the face of criticism, the Bush administration has portrayed each surveillance initiative as a defense of American freedom.

Shameful. These people are making a mockery of our democracy, while at the same time claiming to protect it, while, oddly, pushing for democracy in Iraq. It's really a sad state of affairs.