Homework Assignments for Rick Graber

Chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin Rick Graber put out a press release Monday that deserves a response. It was regarding a report that Senator Russ Feingold has not taken impeachment of Bush off the table. Although it was only two paragraphs long, the Graber press release was packed with inaccuracies. Since I’d like to give Graber the benefit of the doubt, I’ll assume that he did not thoroughly research the subject before issuing the release. I’d like to offer him some homework, which may help avoid similar mistakes in the future.

On Feingold’s Comments

Assignment:

Try reading Feingold’s actual statement in this story.
It appears that Feingold has not yet determined anything on Bush’s wiretapping of American Citizens. It appears that he wants to “find out what happened” and doesn’t want to “put the cart before the horse.” Feingold also clearly states that “IF THERE IS A LEGAL VIOLATION there needs to be accountability.”

Bush’s Spying Is A-OK?

Assignments:
1. Read the comments by Republican Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas. He seems to disagree with Bush’s “legal basis” for spying on Americans.
2. Try reading the Fourth Amendment of theU.S.Constitution. You do remember the Constitution don’t you?

Warrants? We Don’t Have Time for Warrants!

Since a warrant would come from the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) Court, you may want to read that law.

Assignment:

Try reading THIS SECTION on “emergency orders”. It clearly shows us that in an emergency, the Attorney General can authorize the spying operation as long as they obtain the warrant no later than 72 hours after the fact.

But What Are My Odds?

If you are worried that the FISA Court won’t grant the warrants (even the retroactive ones), then the following should comfort you. Sorta.

Assignment:

Read this story. It will show you that out of over 18,000 requests since 1979, only four were denied by the FISA Court. The denials were all over reaching requests from the Bush Administration.