Bush at it again

[Robert]

Source

 

Bush says feds can open mail without warrant

By James Gordon Meek

 

New York Daily News

 

WASHINGTON — President Bush quietly has claimed sweeping new powers to open Americans' mail without a judge's warrant.

 

Bush asserted the new authority Dec. 20 after signing legislation that overhauls some postal regulations. He then issued a "signing statement" that declared his right to open mail under emergency conditions, contrary to existing law and contradicting the bill he had just signed, according to experts who have reviewed it.

 

A White House spokeswoman disputed claims that the move gives Bush any new powers, saying the Constitution allows such searches.

 

Still, the move, one year after The New York Times' disclosure of a secret program that allowed warrantless monitoring of Americans' phone calls and e-mail, caught Capitol Hill by surprise.

 

"Despite the president's statement that he may be able to circumvent a basic privacy protection, the new postal law continues to prohibit the government from snooping into people's mail without a warrant," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., the incoming House Government Reform Committee chairman, who co-sponsored the bill.

 

Experts said the new powers could be easily abused and used to vacuum up large amounts of mail.

 

"The [bush] signing statement claims authority to open domestic mail without a warrant, and that would be new and quite alarming," said Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies in Washington.

 

"You have to be concerned," a senior U.S. official agreed. "It takes executive-branch authority beyond anything we've ever known."

 

A top Senate Intelligence Committee aide promised a review of Bush's move.

 

"It's something we're going to look into," the aide said.

 

Most of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act deals with mundane changes. But the legislation also explicitly reinforces protections of first-class mail from searches without a court's approval.

 

Yet, in his statement, Bush said he will "construe" an exception, "which provides for opening of an item of a class of mail otherwise sealed against inspection in a manner consistent ... with the need to conduct searches in exigent circumstances."

 

Bush cited as examples the need to "protect human life and safety against hazardous materials and the need for physical searches specifically authorized by law for foreign intelligence collection."

 

White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore denied Bush was claiming new authority.

 

"In certain circumstances — such as with the proverbial 'ticking bomb' — the Constitution does not require warrants for reasonable searches," she said.

 

Bush, however, cited "exigent circumstances" that could refer to an imminent danger or a long-standing state of emergency.

 

Critics noted the administration could obtain a warrant quickly from a court or a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judge, and the Postal Service could block delivery.

 

But the Bush White House appears to be taking no chances, national-security experts agreed.

 

Martin said Bush is "using the same legal reasoning" as he did with warrantless eavesdropping.

 

Say goodbye to your so-called "freedom".

[Lucandrake]

What's freedom? We lost that long ago!!

[Rag]

Our privacy is becoming pointless. I'm just waiting until hes out of office.

[Mooney]

You know, I really don't care WHO we elect in 08, as long as we get HIM out.

[Wizard]

Move to canada !!

[Shibathedog]

bush is flocking insane on so many levels

 

Everyone please vote this year....when you dont vote people like bush get elected, and im so sick of this, watching this country fall into a downward spiral ever since Clinton left.

[Lucandrake]

Dude, I hope Hilary (by some miracle of god) is allowed to run in 08. But sadly I won't be able to vote until 2012 elections.

[Weirdy]

Damn, I think that next year will be an even more intense election year. I believe that Hillary's people have already started some of the fire by saying that Obama attended a radical madrassa when he was living in Indonesia. He's not even a Muslim.

 

And people please pay close attention to the candidates and their stances on x and y. If you don't agree with their values, look to another candidate.

[Shibathedog]

i guess i could be considered a democrat and i don't even really like Hillary, Its not because shes a woman its just because she seems like a huge asshole to me. Shes a little too anti-gaming for my liking too. But i supposed she will be better than the other choice whoever that ends up being.

[Smilee]

And people please pay close attention to the candidates and their stances on x and y. If you don't agree with their values, look to another candidate.

Agreed. It's surprising how many people vote just from the image of the candidates and not their stances on certain issues.

[Rag]

i guess i could be considered a democrat and i don't even really like Hillary, Its not because shes a woman its just because she seems like a huge asshole to me. Shes a little too anti-gaming for my liking too. But i supposed she will be better than the other choice whoever that ends up being.

 

Thats how i feel about her too. I don't think I've ever seen her smile.