Many people seem to think that the recent ruling on warrant-less wiretaps will somehow help the terrorists. There is not an ounce of truth in this assertion, but I guess they only made those comments because they are not aware of the tools at the disposal of the president. There is such a thing as a "retroactive warrant." If you want to tap a phone (presumably to monitor a terrorist), you do not need to go to court to get a warrant, by which time you might have missed the call. You can tap the phone WITHOUT A WARRANT. However, you need to get a warrant at 72 hours AFTER the act at a special FISA court. That protects our liberties by not letting the government spy on law-abiding citizens, and also our security by not tying the government up in red tape so that it cannot protect us from terrorists. It's a win-win situation. The only reason for warrant-less wiretaps would be because the president wants extra-judicial power. So why do people want more than retroactive wiretapping?
2006-08-17 11:42:29 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
That's the point exactly.
Everything the administration wanted to do as far as surveillance could have been done according to the existing laws. Or they could have gone to Congress and asked for changes to the existing laws.
Bush just didn't think the laws should apply to him, so he ignored the laws rather than following them. And then used terrorism as a smoke-screen to distract from his own constitutional violations.
Most people don't realize the existing laws already allowed all the same kinds of activity, because most people have never bothered to read the laws before forming their opinion. They just bought into the hype and the fear, and took at face value the irrational assertions of our leaders.
In other words, they choose to not care that the government was breaking the laws and violating the constitution. Which is really sad for us as a nation that claims to respect the rule of law.
2006-08-17 11:57:56 · answer #1 · answered by coragryph 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
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2016-06-04 01:20:13 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Republicans are deliberately misrepresenting the real situation as an excuse to make a grab for unchecked power. This tactic of using fear to grab power is how the Nazis overthrew Germany's democracy in 1933 without firing a shot.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_fire
2006-08-17 11:49:43 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋