Bush: Breaking the Law, Again and Again

Yes, I know, seven people were arrested -- five Americans -- in a strange thought-crime plot to bomb the Sears Tower.

In other news, the Bush administration has apparently been doing more illegal domestic surveillance, this time of banking records.

Is it a coincidence that news of the first supposed terra-folks located within the United States since the attacks of 2001 would come on the same day as this damning story?

Perhaps, but this is after all an administration that writes its own news and disseminates it. While it is easy to dismiss such questioning as simply cynicism, the reality is far too ugly to ignore -- namely, that people who have already violated Federal and international law and repeatedly lied despite evidence contrary to their assertions would abuse their powers yet again for such an obvious and naked ploy.

According to a ten-page article in the New York Times this past Thursday, in case you missed it due to the lack of a functioning and independent fourth estate, the Bush administration is using the Treasury Department and the CIA to mine American banking records, all in an effort to find the next terra cell, which by the way they just happened to do the very day this news broke.

What the NYT describes can only be seen as illegal and far-reaching, leaving any reasonable person laughing in horror at the idea of John Snow and Porter Goss -- or now General Hayden -- working together to sift through our finances, all looking for the ghost of Osama Bin Laden. Chances are that looking for the actual Osama might yield better results, but this is not an administration searching for Osama, when the myth of him is so much more politically potent. Osama won't be "found" until he is needed for a victory dance that will neatly tie Iraq, Iran, WMD and 911 together in some fantasy story, delivered just in time for political purposes. Will Osama's head too be splashed all over the news and displayed at press briefings in a large wooden frame?

But back to Snow, who appears terribly concerned about locating the terrorists via bank files, our bank files that is. There is of course a good reason to track suspected terrorists and drug traffickers by following the money, as it will, of course, lead to the culprits eventually. But somehow I don't think Snow is looking for that kind of information.

After all, was it not John Snow who approved the Dubai Ports deal, allegedly without notifying the President of the United States, the Defense Department, or the Tsar of Homeland Security?

Not only that, Snow continued to argue despite these facts that the proper people were briefed and assured us that we were all snug and safe in our beds. But aside from the obvious questions surrounding Snow's alleged involvement in some shady business dealings, what is most fascinating is the contradiction of the Dubai Ports deal juxtaposed against the backdrop of these newest revelations of domestic surveillance.

Dubai is the hub for the banking needs of terrorists, drug dealers, and all manner of criminals who wish to launder, transfer, or simply hide large amounts of cash. In fact, Dubai is directly connected to the events of 911 and directly connected to the 911 hijackers' money transfers.

Forgive me if this is an ignorant question, but why is a man who approves access to 21 sensitive and unprotected points of interest in the United States for the very people who helped fund the 911 hijackers given carte blanche to look for terrorists in our bank records? Am I missing something here?

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"The program is grounded in part on the president's emergency economic powers, Mr. Levey said, and multiple safeguards have been imposed to protect against any unwarranted searches of Americans' records."

"The program, however, is a significant departure from typical practice in how the government acquires Americans' financial records. Treasury officials did not seek individual court-approved warrants or subpoenas to examine specific transactions, instead relying on broad administrative subpoenas for millions of records from the cooperative, known as Swift." (NYT)