Stubborn Imperialists Never Learn

A District Court judge recently ruled that Bush's NSA spying program is unconstitutional and the stubborn imperialists immediately began bashing the judge and the decision - but strangely most did not say she was legally incorrect. Take FOX News' wacky John Gibson who says, "I agree that the program might not be strictly legal, though I think it is strictly necessary. Perhaps Congress should amend the law to make it entirely legal. But whether we need it or not is beyond question." He then goes on to point out that there were recent arrests of Arab men buying cell phones which are "untraceable" and that under current law our spies cannot listen in on these phone calls. His bone-chilling conclusion: "In other words, the civil libertarians say the terrorists are constitutionally allowed to conspire to kill us. That cannot be right."

Well, since well before I was born it has been true that if the only piece of evidence police have connecting someone to a mass murder was obtained through an unconstitutional search - that evidence can and must be kept out of the trial. In other words, the constitution sometimes protects killers because if it didn't then it would have little meaning for the rest of us. For every criminal let loose because the police violated his 4th Amendment rights, thousands of law-abiding residents can sit comfortably knowing the police won't kick in their door with no reason. For every terrorist who manages to make a phone call without the government listening in, millions of people calling their friends to talk about private matters, or a potential labor strike, or the details of their company's new advertising campaign, can feel comfortable that the government isn't listening in - remember that's a government that at times may seem relatively harmless to you but depending on who you are or what part of history you look to the situation can be quite different.

Then, I suppose Gibson would say, these terrorists are just going to keep trying to destroy us by using their untraceable phones and hiding their bomb-making materials in their basements (the home being one of the most guarded by the 4th Amendment). First, there are many other ways to catch terrorists, but more importantly what these right-wing pundits can't understand beyond their narrow view of the world is that we will always be at war with terrorists as long as we continue to terrorize the world or support regimes like Israel that do it for us. The true opponents of terrorism will oppose the imperialism of the U.S. and Israel as strongly if not more strongly than the tactics of the far less powerful groups, like Hezbollah or Hamas. We will support absolute preservation of our civil liberties - indeed strengthening of our civil liberties - not just for ourselves but for everyone, anywhere in the world.

On a brighter note, check out this cool picture I took ...