| | A liberal Democrat and potential White House contender is proposing
that the Senate censure President Bush for authorizing domestic
eavesdropping, saying the White House misled Americans about its
legality. "The president has broken the law, and, in some way, he must be held accountable," Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) said. A
censure resolution, which simply would scold the president, has been
used just once -- against Andrew Jackson in 1834 over a dispute about
banking. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) called the
proposal "a crazy political move" that would weaken the United States
during wartime. The five-page resolution to be introduced today
contends that Bush violated the law when he set up the eavesdropping
program within the National Security Agency. Bush says that his
authority as commander in chief and a September 2001 congressional
authorization to use force in the fight against terrorism gave him the
power to authorize the surveillance. The White House had no immediate response. In
the House, Rep. John Conyers Jr. (Mich.), top Democrat on the House
Judiciary Committee, is pushing legislation that would call on Congress
to determine whether there are grounds for impeachment. The
program gave intelligence officers the power to monitor -- without
court approval -- the international phone calls and e-mails of U.S.
residents, when those officers suspect terrorism may be involved. Frist, appearing on ABC's "This Week," said that he hoped al-Qaeda and other U.S. enemies were not listening to the infighting. "The
signal that it sends, that there is in any way a lack of support for
our commander in chief who is leading us with a bold vision in a way
that is making our homeland safer, is wrong," Frist said. Feingold
was the only senator to vote in 2001 against the USA Patriot Act,
expanding the government's surveillance and prosecutorial powers. My View: I think that this shows that the commander- in chief has abused his powers. Lawyers are allready composing the impeachment papers agianst bush....I hope that that happens soon!
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| | Posted 3/13/2006 5:18 PM - 8 Views
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