Bush misses the point

Bush believes that because the world we live in is a dangerous place, his spying programs are justified. He says that the federal judge who recently determined the programs are unlawful is wrong because she doesn't understand the extent to which these programs help (but how can she? All the evidence is secret!). Whether he really believes this silly, irrational, fear inducing argument or he's using this to merely frame the debate so that Democrats look soft on terrorism is irrelevant. This is his argument and he's sticking to it.

Actually, the severity of the treat of terrorism and how these programs may help mitigate that threat only partially addresses the reality of the judge’s ruling. What Bush is failing to consider, either intentionally or not (probably intentionally), is the fact that this judge is only expressing the legal interpretation most commonly expressed by legal scholars nationwide: there is no statute providing legal authorization for these programs. Like the argument that the jury is still out on Global Warming, this debate was closed long ago. Nobody outside the administration with any real credibility on this issue is arguing in support of the President's legal merits.

Bush is trying to cloud your judgment—if we are afraid enough, maybe we'll forget that there is no legal basis for his illegal spying programs. If we are worried about liquid bombs on airplanes, then we won't worry so much about the legal "debate" among Washington insiders.

I'm not concerned about playing politics with fear. He’s been getting away with it since 9/11 and he’ll continue to do it no matter what the issue of the day may be—he’s a desperate politician and this political tool is all he has left. I just wish he wouldn’t do it at the expense of misrepresenting the discussion about what's legal and what isn't--not at the expense of the truth.