Pruning Shears

 Secrecy and the absence of bureaucracy each invite abuse; together they almost guarantee it.  Here is the latest example:

The FBI very closely spied and did surveillance on Scott King for years, keeping close track of her public appearances, speeches and especially anytime she traveled.

Why would a federal agency go to such trouble?

For most of his life FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover ruled the Bureau with a tight grip. In addition he opposed the civil rights movement as being an “un-American” and “subversive cause” and even called Martin Luther King Jr. “the Black Messiah,” saying he was too powerful. In public statements Hoover also called the leader “immoral” and accused him of being influenced by the Communists.

Change the names and substitute “terrorists” for “Communists” and you have a news item for today.  Like the one above the soonest we’ll likely hear about this one is a few decades after it actually happens.

Here’s the latest outrage from the President:

The Bush administration wants the power to grant legal immunity to telecommunications companies that are slapped with privacy lawsuits for cooperating with the White House’s warrantless eavesdropping program.

<snip>

Republicans say immunity is necessary to protect the companies that responded to legal presidential orders to thwart terrorists in the years after 9/11.

<snip>

On Capitol Hill, some of the majority Democrats believe the companies operated in good faith on orders that appeared to be lawful. Others believe company lawyers had a responsibility to ensure the requests were not an abuse of presidential power.

<snip>

National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell considers the issue a key element of any legislation this fall to update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

He confirmed that the private sector had assisted with the surveillance work and faced lawsuits. “If you play out the suits at the value they’re claimed, it would bankrupt these companies,” he said last week.

Single sentence political interpretation: “Republicans say” and “some of the majority Democrats” means all the Republicans and enough Democrats will vote in favor to make it happen - that’s the dynamic we’re stuck with these days.  As for Director McConnell’s rhetoric, it would be nice if someone made the provocative point “so what?”  If you are urged to break the law, even by the President of the United States, you are still responsible if you go ahead and do so.  Massive violations should imply massive liability.  If it really causes the company to go bankrupt, so be it.  People could still find an accountant when Arthur Anderson was wiped from the face of the earth.  Magic of the market, Adam Smith’s invisible hand, etc. etc.  Capitalism abhors a vacuum.

Finally, I like digby but this bothered me:

What we have learned is that an aggressive and power-mad president who has 34 Senators who can be counted upon to stick with him no matter what, can pretty much do anything he wants. If he has a supine, self-serving press that refuses to do its job, so much the better. But that’s really all it takes for a president to become a dictator, at least temporarily — the will to do it and 34 men and women willing to stand behind him.

 No, Congress has the ability to force the issue with forty votes.  They could say “we pass no legislation unless you roll this back.  We will shut this whole place down and you won’t even be able to pass a resolution for Daisy Appreciation Week.  We will force the country to take sides and let the hellfire rain down because we’re pretty sure it’ll hit the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.”  There’s a huge downside for Congress that doesn’t apply to the President (facing voters again) so in a sense Bush is playing with house money (har).  Pushing it there would require courage from a group that has been cowardly at crucial moments. 

When Nixon finally left people surveyed the wreckage and said “well at least the system worked.”  Will we have even that consolation when this infuriating group of clock-watchers finally allows Bush to go away unchallenged?