Boo, Lieberman!

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) has introduced a bill to censure Pres. Bush for breaking the law by authorizing the NSA domestic wiretapping program. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (Ass-CT) has said (to paraphrase), "Now, fellas, we all know that letting the NSA spy on calls made by American citizens is illegal, but heck, we're at war, so a healthy Congress isn't gonna be a-fussin' and a-feudin' over what's done already. A healthy Congress is gonna be doin' everything it can to make the wiretapping legal for the future."

So, let me get this straight. We catch the President breaking the law and lying to us and our Congress about it, and Sen. Lieberman wants us to do everything we can to change the law? Priority number one is changing the law?

The Republicans, at least, have the internally consistent stance that Bush didn't break the law, which for them means that the only priority is improving surveillance. But Lieberman admits that Bush broke the law and STILL doesn't want to do anything about it.

WTF? I mean, honestly, What. The. Fuck? With all due repect, Senator Lieberman, you're not due any respect on this one. The worst thing I can imagine for this or any country is acting as if the President--or anyone in government for that matter--weren't governed by the laws on the books but rather by the laws that he thinks should be on the books. To say that our laws don't matter because we can trust the good heart of the man in charge is to say that democracy and rule of law have been charming failures but failures nonetheless, and that it's time to put our trust in a charismatic leader who talks with tears in his eyes about the Fatherland.

Why is it that these days everybody who shouts loudest about "fighting for our way of life" thinks of the Constitution and the laws of this country as so much funny-shaped toilet paper?