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At what point does he start saying things like "doubleplusungood" and "thoughtcrime"?
I'm not sure if I find it more depressing that the White House thinks these sort of bizarre rhetorical tricks will actually work or that it's entirely likely that they will.
I'm not sure if I find it more depressing that the White House thinks these sort of bizarre rhetorical tricks will actually work or that it's entirely likely that they will.
Bush on the offensive over secret spy program
President kicks off public relations campaign to counter controversy
MSNBC staff and news service reports
Updated: 4:55 p.m. ET Jan. 23, 2006
MANHATTAN, Kan. - President Bush on Monday rejected critics’ assertions that he broke the law by authorizing domestic eavesdropping without a warrant, saying he was doing what Congress authorized him to do to protect Americans from terrorist attacks.
With congressional hearings set to begin on this issue Feb. 6, Bush kicked his administration’s new intensive public relations effort to win support for the program run by the National Security Agency. As part of that, he gave it a new label — the Terrorist Surveillance Program.
Bush noted that hearings will open in Congress soon, and Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., who accompanied the president here, was among the lawmakers on Capitol Hill who were given regular updates about the surveillance by the White House. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Judiciary Committee, will preside over the hearings.
“It’s amazing that people say to me, ‘Well, he’s just breaking the law,” the president said, with Roberts sitting behind him on stage at Kansas State University. “If I wanted to break the law, why was I briefing Congress?”
Bush said the spying program was targeted at communications between people in the United States and al-Qaida associates overseas. He said he made sure he was acting within the law before authorizing the program after his aides suggested it.
Legality in question
“I’m mindful of your civil liberties and so I had all kinds of lawyers review the process,” Bush told some 9,000 students, soldiers and dignitaries in the audience.
Critics have said the president broke the law by authorizing the eavesdropping without a judge’s approval and by failing to fully consult with Congress. The White House told congressional leadership about the program, but not all members of the intelligence committees.
Bush said a congressional resolution passed after Sept. 11, 2001, that authorized him to use force in the fight against terrorism, also allowed him to order the top-secret program. That operation was disclosed last month by The New York Times.
“Congress gave me the authority to use necessary force to protect the American people, but it didn’t prescribe the tactics,” Bush said, adding that the government needs to know why people linked to al Qaida are calling into the U.S. “One of the ways to protect the American people is to understand the intentions of the enemy.”
'Hot pursuit' of al-Qaida communication
Earlier Monday, a top U.S. intelligence official Monday said the warrantless spying program was necessary because the war on terrorism has rendered laws governing electronic surveillance ineffective.
Former National Security Agency director Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden argued that the eavesdropping program was not as sweeping as some critics have suggested.
"This isn't a drift net out there where we're soaking up everyone's communications," said Hayden, who is now principal deputy to U.S. intelligence chief John Negroponte.
"This is hot pursuit of communications entering or leaving America involving someone we believe is associated with al-Qaida," he said in remarks delivered at the National Press Club.
A majority of Americans, 56 percent, said the Bush administration should be required to get a warrant before monitoring electronic communications between American citizens and suspected terrorists, according to an AP-Ipsos poll earlier this month.
When people have been asked in other polls to balance their worries about terrorist threats against their worries about intrusions on privacy, fighting terror is the higher priority.
Bush’s appearance was the fourth in the last six weeks in which he’s taken questions from the audience. But Kansas State offered the largest audience yet, with a coliseum full of roughly 9,000 people who got tickets distributed by the university. Six thousand were students, 800 were soldiers from nearby Fort Riley who just returned from Iraq, officials said.
The White House says none of the questions was prescreened. The site chosen for Monday’s event, however, was in friendly Bush territory in the reliably “red” state of Kansas.
Bush received a hero’s welcome, with long standing ovations and loud applause as he defended his most controversial positions.
Defending Iraq invasion
Removal of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein became essential after diplomatic efforts through the United Nations failed, Bush said, raising the threat that Saddam's regime would let weapons of mass destruction into the hands of terrorists. Although inspectors never uncovered the alleged WMD, Bush on Monday insisted that Saddam had these weapons.
Removing Saddam removed that threat to the United States, he said. "There is no doubt in my mind that America is safer for it and the world is better off without Saddam Hussein."
He also defended the ongoing war in Iraq, which has faced mounting criticism and doubt in recent months, and urged perseverance.
"They cannot defeat us, militarily," he said of insurgents in Iraq. "The only way we can lose is if we lose our nerve and our will. ... And we're not going to lose our will to these thugs and murderers."
There was a noisy crowd of a couple hundred sign-waving anti-war protesters outside the arena where Bush appeared.
While the president was in Kansas, anti-abortion activists were gathering in Washington and elsewhere to protest the 33rd anniversary of the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. As he has in past years, Bush called in his support rather than attend in person.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
© 2006 MSNBC.com
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10991763/
President kicks off public relations campaign to counter controversy
MSNBC staff and news service reports
Updated: 4:55 p.m. ET Jan. 23, 2006
MANHATTAN, Kan. - President Bush on Monday rejected critics’ assertions that he broke the law by authorizing domestic eavesdropping without a warrant, saying he was doing what Congress authorized him to do to protect Americans from terrorist attacks.
With congressional hearings set to begin on this issue Feb. 6, Bush kicked his administration’s new intensive public relations effort to win support for the program run by the National Security Agency. As part of that, he gave it a new label — the Terrorist Surveillance Program.
Bush noted that hearings will open in Congress soon, and Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., who accompanied the president here, was among the lawmakers on Capitol Hill who were given regular updates about the surveillance by the White House. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Judiciary Committee, will preside over the hearings.
“It’s amazing that people say to me, ‘Well, he’s just breaking the law,” the president said, with Roberts sitting behind him on stage at Kansas State University. “If I wanted to break the law, why was I briefing Congress?”
Bush said the spying program was targeted at communications between people in the United States and al-Qaida associates overseas. He said he made sure he was acting within the law before authorizing the program after his aides suggested it.
Legality in question
“I’m mindful of your civil liberties and so I had all kinds of lawyers review the process,” Bush told some 9,000 students, soldiers and dignitaries in the audience.
Critics have said the president broke the law by authorizing the eavesdropping without a judge’s approval and by failing to fully consult with Congress. The White House told congressional leadership about the program, but not all members of the intelligence committees.
Bush said a congressional resolution passed after Sept. 11, 2001, that authorized him to use force in the fight against terrorism, also allowed him to order the top-secret program. That operation was disclosed last month by The New York Times.
“Congress gave me the authority to use necessary force to protect the American people, but it didn’t prescribe the tactics,” Bush said, adding that the government needs to know why people linked to al Qaida are calling into the U.S. “One of the ways to protect the American people is to understand the intentions of the enemy.”
'Hot pursuit' of al-Qaida communication
Earlier Monday, a top U.S. intelligence official Monday said the warrantless spying program was necessary because the war on terrorism has rendered laws governing electronic surveillance ineffective.
Former National Security Agency director Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden argued that the eavesdropping program was not as sweeping as some critics have suggested.
"This isn't a drift net out there where we're soaking up everyone's communications," said Hayden, who is now principal deputy to U.S. intelligence chief John Negroponte.
"This is hot pursuit of communications entering or leaving America involving someone we believe is associated with al-Qaida," he said in remarks delivered at the National Press Club.
A majority of Americans, 56 percent, said the Bush administration should be required to get a warrant before monitoring electronic communications between American citizens and suspected terrorists, according to an AP-Ipsos poll earlier this month.
When people have been asked in other polls to balance their worries about terrorist threats against their worries about intrusions on privacy, fighting terror is the higher priority.
Bush’s appearance was the fourth in the last six weeks in which he’s taken questions from the audience. But Kansas State offered the largest audience yet, with a coliseum full of roughly 9,000 people who got tickets distributed by the university. Six thousand were students, 800 were soldiers from nearby Fort Riley who just returned from Iraq, officials said.
The White House says none of the questions was prescreened. The site chosen for Monday’s event, however, was in friendly Bush territory in the reliably “red” state of Kansas.
Bush received a hero’s welcome, with long standing ovations and loud applause as he defended his most controversial positions.
Defending Iraq invasion
Removal of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein became essential after diplomatic efforts through the United Nations failed, Bush said, raising the threat that Saddam's regime would let weapons of mass destruction into the hands of terrorists. Although inspectors never uncovered the alleged WMD, Bush on Monday insisted that Saddam had these weapons.
Removing Saddam removed that threat to the United States, he said. "There is no doubt in my mind that America is safer for it and the world is better off without Saddam Hussein."
He also defended the ongoing war in Iraq, which has faced mounting criticism and doubt in recent months, and urged perseverance.
"They cannot defeat us, militarily," he said of insurgents in Iraq. "The only way we can lose is if we lose our nerve and our will. ... And we're not going to lose our will to these thugs and murderers."
There was a noisy crowd of a couple hundred sign-waving anti-war protesters outside the arena where Bush appeared.
While the president was in Kansas, anti-abortion activists were gathering in Washington and elsewhere to protest the 33rd anniversary of the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. As he has in past years, Bush called in his support rather than attend in person.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
© 2006 MSNBC.com
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10991763/
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