Bush "effectively created a Police State" in 2002

"Bush Secretly Signs Law Allowing Unlimited Spying on Americans Without Warrants: In a blockbuster revelation, the NYT yesterday broke the story of the year: That early in 2002 Bush introduced a secret law allowing the NSA foreign spying agency to spy on ordinary Americans without limit, without warrant, without notification, and without the need to demonstrate cause. He effectively created a Police State in America without telling anyone. The law, which is clearly unconstitutional, essentially proclaims:

* That the American people have no rights or freedoms, in the eyes of the Bush neocon regime, and
*That the US Government considers itself in all respects above the law.

"In any other democracy this kind of action, introduced subversively without notification to the people, would be grounds for immediate impeachment of the president and criminal charges against the perpetrators. But the reactions to this astonishing revelation have been unbelievably meek -- the mainstream media have provided little editorial commentary, lobbing softball questions to the government and merely reporting verbatim what government leaders of both parties have said. Bush's Minister of Torture Alberto Gonzales shrugged it off, saying it was all necessary in the 'war on terror'.

"What is equally remarkable was the fact that the NYT sat on this story for a year at the government's request, essentially allowing Bush to be reelected. They chose to release it just in time for the revelations to block Senate renewal of the abominable Patriot Act -- an act for incursion on civil liberties that, at least, the public was told about. But the Republican leaders see no problem getting the Patriot Act renewed indefinitely, viewing the revelation as a mere setback ..."
Dave Pollard, Salon.com

Tagged: usa, bush, liberty, police+state, authoritarianism, civil+liberties, human+rights, patriot+act