He knows when you’ve been sleeping

Article VII, Amendment IV, The Constitution of the United States of America: The right of the people to be secure in their persons against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the person or things to be seized.

When George W. Bush was sworn into office, he pledged to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution. As a start, he ought to try reading it.

Last week’s revelation that Bush authorized the largest and most secretive intelligence agency in the United States government to spy on Americans without having to obtain any warrants or undergo any judicial oversight is beyond worrying. It is the stuff of nightmares. If the current administration is willing to toss out the Fourth amendment with no debate and seemingly no compunction, to what lengths won’t it go?

While we Americans expend our mental energy running the hamster wheel of hollow debate on manufactured issues—the phony war on Christmas, the horrors of the estate tax, Paris Hilton’s acting skills—the Bush administration is boldly clearing the way for a future based on constant and faceless surveillance, secret detentions of American citizens and unchecked rule by executive fiat.

In defending himself, Bush chided the media for releasing the story, even though The New York Times inexplicably kept this important information from the American public for more than a year at the request of the administration. (So much for a free press, not to mention the myth of the “liberal” media.)

How much farther down the path to fascism are we willing to let this administration lead us? And how long do we have before it is too late to do anything about it? If ever there was a time to cast aside our petty differences and come together as Americans, this is it. Bush committed a felony and he should be impeached for violating his oath to uphold the Constitution.