Yes or no?

Watching this business about spying is like watching two children: yes, you did, no, I didn,t, yes you did, no I didn't, etc. etc.

Gonzales, the President's toady Attorney General, insists that what Bush has done is legal. Leahy, Spector, Graham, and others don't think so. So is it legal or not? My guess is that they will push this all the way to Bush's Supreme Court which they believe will act in their favor (that somehow it is legal). Remember, Alito was appointed specifically because he is a conservative who believes in the power of the Executive.

Notice how the Republicans have framed the discussion. They keep insisting that the spying is necessary (thus implying that Democrat don't think it is necessary). But that is not the issue. Everyone believes that some form of spying is necessary. The question is not whether or not it is necessary, everyone agrees that it is, the question is whether it is being done legally. And the answer to that question is almost certainly that it has not been done legally. The argument, apparently borrowed from Nixon, is that if the President does it, it must be legal. I doubt this is ultimately going to fly. But, of course, by the time anyone bothers to do anything about it we'll all be dead. The fact that justice (if there is any) moves so slowly certainly favors those in office, or those who are on trial (Ken Lay comes to mind).

You notice that Gonzales did not testify under oath. A very strange situation. Democrats, of course, wanted him under oath but Arlen Spector, in charge of the proceedings, refused to have him sworn in. Why do you suppose he did that? It couldn't be because he knew he would be lying - or could it? There are those suspicious folk like me who think the whole thing is simply being staged and the outcome has been totally predetermined. Would Republicans do something as sneaky as that? You bet your life!

Rove and the rest of the "gang" are apparently going to bet on painting the Democrats as soft on defense and terrorism, as they have up until now. They keep insisting in one way or another that Democrats don't really care if we get bombed and are too sympathetic to terrorists, etc., etc. Will they get away with this crap again? They will if we let them (again). It is long past time that we throw the whole bunch of them out. Bush/Cheney should be impeached and then tried for their obvious war crimes. But if we let Republicans steal the next election (again) that will never happen. So be prepared. If they send in their Brownshirts again, resist. If they try to force their crooked Diebold machines on us again, resist. I hate to be so corny but it is true: "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country."