White House vs the People
In the June 23 rd edition of New York Times was revealed an on going program of the US government: the monitoring of millions of dollars of banking transactions. The program was carried out withoput court approval as was the case with the telephone tapping. Bush was livid and thundered :"The disclosure of the programme is disgraceful". The argument he made was that US was or is at war and therefore such measures are not onlt necessatry but also required to protect the American People from the undisclosed threat of "International Terrorism". By linking the disclosure of an illegal program with the on going crisis that the Bush Administration finds itself in, the argument is being made that extraordinary times require extradordinary measures. If the onfoing survellielence of banking tranactions is so vital to the safety of the American Public, the question arises why was a court warrant not taken. Afterall the Washington DC Ciortuit Court has always obliged the government. Therfore the law was broken and no public interset was served by this measure. 4 years of intense scrutiny has not resulted even in a single procecution and there lies the real secret of this measure.
Did the disclosure of this program by the NYT tilt the balance between the public's right to know and the right to live as Tony Snow the Propaganda Chief of the White House seems to imply. Even the embedded journalists of the White House Corps seem to be horrified at this interpretation. As if acting on cue a number of Republicans Congressmen such as Pat Roberts, Peter King, and Senator Jim Bunning took up the cause: Giving aid and comfort to the enemy said one congressmen against the NYT editor.Another declared, "an act of treason". Conservative bloggers are having a field day amplifying these remarks.And to make matters worse some have even seen the hand of Karl Rove in the strategy behind this counter campaign.
The USA has a constitution according to which the 3 parts of the Government are supposed to be separate but equal. THe COngress has under the Republican majority(likely to cvhange this November) has by and large gone along with the Bush interpretation of law and constitutional conventions. Under the garb of National Security Congress has been abdicasting its oversight role over the Bush Administration. Since the details of the banking tranactions were collected from Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecomminication (SWIFT) congrssional approvasl or the approvasl of a v=ccourt was abolutely essential to provide a fig leaf of legality to an intrusive invasion of private banking records. We may recall that when the Valerie Palme's name was outed by the White House as a CIA agent the same agrument of national security was trotted out to justify a wanton breach of secrecy. What that incident displayed then and what is on display now is a total diregard for the Liberties of the Citizens, a sad thought on July 4, the Independence Day.
The print and electronic media are the only checks available to hem in an increasingly "rampaging Rambo" Administration. The US media is particularly interested in getting back its reputation as a free and bold Press by ruthlessly exposing the doings of the Bush Administration. We must point out that NYT burnt its fingrs badly when it published reporrts that gave credibility to the Iraq having weapons of mass destruction. Having been outwiteed by the Gvernment, the Press will soldier on in defence of Civil Liberty.