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DeWine: ‘We Don’t Want To Have Any Kind of Debate About Whether Its Constitutional’

By Faiz Shakir on Feb 17, 2006 at 7:01 pm

dewine

    The White House announced its support for a legislative proposal by Ohio Sen. Mike DeWine to exclude Bush’s NSA wiretapping program from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. ThinkProgress explained earlier why the proposal is a bad idea. Tonight, on Fox News, DeWine explained his motivations:

    You know, there’s been some controversy about whether or not this program is legal or is not legal. I think we need to get beyond that. And the vast majority of American people believe these calls need to be listened to. But we don’t want to have any kind of debate about whether it’s constitutional or not constitutional. So I think we need to put that beyond us.

    The reason DeWine and the White House don’t want to talk about the program’s legality is because the program is illegal. DeWine is attempting to fix a problem that he hasn’t even properly diagnosed. Even Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter isn’t buying DeWine’s spin:

    Unless they’re prepared to have a determination on constitutionality as to their programs, window dressing oversight will not be sufficient.

    President Bush said today, “I mean, a lot of lawyers looked at this, and they said, you bet, Mr. President, it’s legal.” If he’s so confident about that, why is he so afraid to have a debate?

    Politics

    Hagel and Snowe Cave To Cheney

    By Judd Legum on Feb 17, 2006 at 4:30 pm

    Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) talked a big game about standing on principle and demanding a congressional investigation of Bush’s warrantless domestic surveillance.

    Snowe, 12/21/05:

    Revelations that the U.S. government has conducted domestic electronic surveillance without express legal authority indeed warrants Congressional examination. I believe the Congress – as a coequal branch of government – must immediately and expeditiously review the use of this practice.

    Hagel, 12/21/05:

    Hagel and four other members of the Intelligence Committee have called for a joint probe with the Senate Judiciary Committee to determine the extent of the domestic surveillance and whether the president had legal authority to order it without court approval…Asked about Vice President Dick Cheney’s warning that Bush’s critics could pay a heavy political price, Hagel said: “My oath is to the Constitution, not to a vice president, a president or a political party.”

    Yesterday, when it counted, both Senators folded. Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) introduced a motion to start an investigation. Snowe and Hagel, after an intense lobbying campaign by Vice President Cheney, sided with Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) and voted to adjourn the committee without even considering Rockefeller’s motion. The motion to adjourn passed on a party-line vote.

    Actions speak louder than words.

    Security

    Why Were the Abu Ghraib Photos Released Now?

    By Guest Blogger on Feb 17, 2006 at 2:34 pm

    Many are asking why and how the photographs and videos from Abu Ghraib got in the hands of a small television station in Australia. The answer may lie in the decisions of the Bush Administration to allow senior officials escape punishment while forcing low-ranking soldiers to take the fall.

    Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld authorized the use of military working dogs during interrogations at Guantanamo Bay when Major General Geoffrey Miller was the base commander. Miller then brought that technique with him in his efforts to “Gitmo-ize” Abu Ghraib.

    But just last month, Gen. Miller took the military equivalent of the 5th Amendment and refused to testify at the trial of two soldiers accused of using attack dogs to injure and intimidate prisoners.

    Donald Rumsfeld is still Secretary of Defense. General Miller is still in charge of detainee operations in Iraq. But nine low-ranking soldiers have been convicted of abuse, and now these two dog handlers were left to hold the bag. That may be too much for some soldiers in possession of Abu Ghraib photos and videos, and may have led them to seek other avenues to hold high-ranking officials accountable in this tragedy.

    – Ken Gude

    Politics

    ThinkProgress Radio: Today at 11 AM ET

    By ThinkProgress on Feb 17, 2006 at 10:19 am

    This week’s ThinkProgress Radio is over, but we’ll have a downloadable podcast version up soon.

    ThinkProgress Radio debuted two weeks ago with a two-hour State of the Union wrap-up featuring John from AmericaBlog, Bill from Liberal Oasis and Sean-Paul from the Agonist.

    ThinkProgress’ Judd, Faiz, and Nico and Sirius Radio’s Christy Harvey will be back on the air this morning at 11 AM ET. Our special guest: Christy Smith (ReddHedd) from FireDogLake. Read more

    Security

    Administration Outsources Operations Of Six U.S. Ports To The United Arab Emirates

    By Judd Legum on Feb 17, 2006 at 8:57 am

    The Bush administration has outsourced the operation of six of the nation’s largest ports to a company owned by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a country with troubling ties to international terrorism. The $6.8 billion sale would mean that the state-controlled Dubai Ports World would control “the ports of New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia.”

    Some facts about the UAE:

    – The UAE was one of three countries in the world to recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.

    – The UAE has been a key transfer point for illegal shipments of nuclear components to Iran, North Korea and Lybia.

    – According to the FBI, money was transferred to the 9/11 hijackers through the UAE banking system.

    – After 9/11, the Treasury Department reported that the UAE was not cooperating in efforts to track down Osama Bin Laden’s bank accounts.

    A bipartisan group of seven members of Congress is calling on the Treasury Department to suspend their approval until they investigate the national security implications of the sale. Such an investigation is required by federal law but hasn’t yet been conducted. You can read their letter here.

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