Boo!

Once again, the Bush administration finds it helpful to scare the American people. And who better for the job than Dick Cheney?

Vice President Dick Cheney strongly defended a secret domestic eavesdropping operation in use since the September 11, 2001, attacks, saying it was not violating American civil liberties and has helped fend off potential terrorist attacks.

"The enemy that struck on 9/11 is weakened and fractured yet it is still lethal and planning to hit us again. Either we are serious about fighting this war or we are not," Cheney said in remarks prepared for a speech at the Heritage Foundation think tank.

9/11, 9/11, 9/11, 9/11, 9/11. They're still exploiting that tragedy to excuse all their lawbreaking. Note the lack of thoughtful Constitutional arguments the administration offers in support of its sidestepping the FISA court, which almost never says no. If the White House were certain it was on solid legal ground, I think I'd be hearing more such arguments, not ham-handed scare tactics and endless references to 9/11.

Once again, I refer you to former White House counsel John Dean:

Bush has given one legal explanation for his actions which borders on the laughable: He claims that implicit in Congress' authorization of his use of force against the Taliban in Afghanistan, following the 9/11 attack, was an exemption from FISA.

No sane member of Congress believes that the Authorization of Military Force provided such an authorization. No first year law student would mistakenly make such a claim. It is not merely a stretch; it is ludicrous.

The fact that Cheney delivered his latest crock of shit to the Heritage Foundation leads me to believe that perhaps the administration thinks this message might not be received warmly by a mainstream audience.

Well, either the message or the messenger.