Reply #42: Keep Your Eye On The Ball

[Laxman]

The most important message that Feingold's letter sets forth is to concentrate, not on some specious debate about why the administration was spying, but upon the illegality of the actions. Mr. Rove and his minions are brilliantly adept at framing public debate. They have succeeded in bringing the conversation regarding the illegal wiretaps and other constitutional transgressions into the realm of being some sort of scholarly debate over the separation of powers in our government and where its just a question of interpretation. Of course in these "grey" areas, we must err on the side of protecting our nation from the bogey men and other assorted evil doers out there waiting to do us harm. The real fact of the matter is that they never expected to get caught trashing those pesky legal technicalities in the Bill of Rights. When they were caught the misinformation machine was immediately turned to the spin cycle and we have this bogus debate over the inherent powers of the presidency. Now, even in the event that the Supreme Court decides against the president, it won't be an impeachable offense, just an honest disagreement over an interpretation of the Constitution that took the wise and learned judgment of the Supreme Court to settle. You've got to hand it to them, they really know how to manipulate public debate. Meanwhile, with the public having the attention span of a hyperactive golden lab puppy, a deliberate and cynically planned disregard of the restraints on government power go unchecked and unpunished. No matter what the political ramifications of Senator Feingold's censure motion may ultimately be, the questions need to be asked regarding just what took place. Hard as it may be to believe, if we don't, there will be some future administration even less enlightened than this one which will show up and show even more disregard for our liberties.