Torture Gonzales versus the Constitution
From AP:
Obviously it can't be done until this bunch of affirmative-action crooks (there seems to be one neofascist from every ethnic group in this administration) is out, but we need to seriously redefine what gets classified, and who classifies it. The fact that the cops are on their way to a particular location to arrest someone would seem to be legitimately classified information--a cop or reporter who calls the suspect to allow him to escape may be guilty of a crime. But informing the public that crimes have been committed and that the police are looking for the criminals can and should happen, as should the details of the arrest after it is completed. And informing a suspect that his phone has been tapped, legally and in accord with the Constitution, could be a crime. But informing the public that phones are tapped, and especially letting them know that phones are being tapped illegally, isn't a crime--it's a patriotic act. And practically speaking, making this knowledge public doesn't help the "terrorists;" it only helps those within the government doing the tapping.
After lying to us for over five years, the chutzpah displayed by the Bushies, still insisting that we just trust them, is amazing.
But he added that the First Amendment right of a free press should not be absolute when it comes to national security. If the government's probe into the NSA leak turns up criminal activity, prosecutors have an "obligation to enforce the law."The "criminal activity" he refers to is reporters reporting on the criminal activity of the government, in this case the NSA wiretaps.
"It can't be the case that that right trumps over the right that Americans would like to see, the ability of the federal government to go after criminal activity," Gonzales told ABC's "This Week."
Obviously it can't be done until this bunch of affirmative-action crooks (there seems to be one neofascist from every ethnic group in this administration) is out, but we need to seriously redefine what gets classified, and who classifies it. The fact that the cops are on their way to a particular location to arrest someone would seem to be legitimately classified information--a cop or reporter who calls the suspect to allow him to escape may be guilty of a crime. But informing the public that crimes have been committed and that the police are looking for the criminals can and should happen, as should the details of the arrest after it is completed. And informing a suspect that his phone has been tapped, legally and in accord with the Constitution, could be a crime. But informing the public that phones are tapped, and especially letting them know that phones are being tapped illegally, isn't a crime--it's a patriotic act. And practically speaking, making this knowledge public doesn't help the "terrorists;" it only helps those within the government doing the tapping.
After lying to us for over five years, the chutzpah displayed by the Bushies, still insisting that we just trust them, is amazing.
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