(This is in reference to this article and this one. Sorry for the lack of organization of my thoughts and the constant change between narrative and apostrophe. I am not particularly proud to be an American at this moment.)

A few days ago, I read an article about the US Government maintaining a database of potential threats, and monitoring the activities thereof. In the post-9/11 world that we live in, this might have been necessary and perhaps justified for the protection of the US populace. But then I read that the dossier are kept on American citizens: not foreign nationals, not obvious terrorist threats, but ordinary Americans holding an opinion different from that of our "dear" president. And then, I read that part of the database included detailed monitoring and threat assessment on a group in Florida. A group which met in a Quaker meetinghouse to plan anti-war protests to be precise. A group that included, naturally, many Quaker members. Okay, I take it to be blunt incompetence of bureaucracy in our intelligence department that they didn't recognize immediately that Quakers are pacifists by definition, and so I laughed jovially at this seemingly isolated incident.

And then, this happens. First Bush admits that he, by Presidential authorization, allowed spying on American citizens in a large scale. And now he claims that he did not break the law in doing so.

"Do I have the legal authority to do this? And the answer is, absolutely."

Well, Mr. President, I have news for you, as the executive branch of the government, it is not in your place to make this judgement call. It is by the power of the Judicial branch that we decide the legality of an act or the constitutionality of a law; and it is by the Legislative branch that we define what the laws are. Furthermore, the law that you are citing compliance under, i.e. the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, required judicial approval before wiretapping is conducted (and in rare cases, post facto warrant can be released for an ongoing operation). You and you buddy Cheney, last I checked, are not judges capable of issuing warrants. How exactly is this legal?

And he seems to say that he will continue his action indefinitely,

"I've reauthorized this program more than 30 times since the September the 11th attacks, and I intend to do so for so long as the nation faces the continuing threat of an enemy that wants to kill our American citizens."

since there will always be people wanting to kill American citizens as long as we are sticking our nose into their business and putting troops on their soil. As long as America retains its current position as a leading world power, and as long as the American government remains resolute in enforcing our ideals (political, military, or economic), there will be individuals with a grudge against the concept of the United States of America. I prefer to take his declaration as just more rhetoric from a deranged mind. It is deplorable to use scare-tactics against the citizens of this country. It has been many years since 9/11, and our Presidency is doing a rather poor job at fixing up the damages. Our international relations have taken a dive for the worse (with much of the world seeing us as the bully that we really are); the chief culprit for the attacks is still at large; we invaded a country on false pretenses, and sacrificed lives of many young Americans for a costly mistake--plus a big Christmas bonus for Halliburton.

Look, it is not that we are not patriotic. We are. We, the American people, Democrats and Republicans alike, stand by the ideals and freedoms that built this country over two-hundred years ago. But we are also intelligent human beings, and we can see when the current administration has failed, and is resorting to lies and blame-games to cover it up. We can also see when the current administration is desperate, and is hiding behind grandiose rhetoric and fear-mongering declarations.

"Most of the senators now filibustering the Patriot Act actually voted for it in 2001. These senators need to explain why they thought the Patriot Act was a vital tool after the Sept. 11 attacks but now think it's no longer necessary."

Mr, President, have we not seen enough of your strawmen arguments? Perhaps your creationist point of view have gotten too deeply ingrained that you failed to recognize the human potential, and desire, to evolve? The world now is not the same as the world four years ago. The American public is no longer trapped in the sense of urgency after the attacks that demanded action on the part of the government. Our congressional representatives no longer have their visions clouded by rage and confusion. People change. The entire situation at present day is not the same as it was four years ago, and can you really blame the senators in their change of heart? They feel, rightly, that the provisions in the PATRIOT act are no longer necessary in this day. By acknowledging progress in Iraq and claiming certain small victories over the terrorists, you are also claiming that the times have changed. See it for what it is and stop sidestepping the issues at hand. Look, the PATRIOT act included sunset provisions (and is up to renewal) precisely because senators four years ago understood that the act brings us closer to a totalitarian/fascist police state than this country's founding ideal allows. It was a drastic measure for a drastic time, and thus needs reconsideration when the times changed.

I think my distaste for Bush's brat-like behaviour in his White House position can be summarized neatly by this comment from Senator Russ Feingold:

"He is the president, not a king."