Bill I hear you,

And I'm as outraged as anyone that an elected official would even consider breaking the law as an option, even as a drastic measure. I wish there was a way to make our government much more accountable, but that's not going to happen.

First of all there's voter apathy. Only 40% of U.S. citizens vote in national elections. Even most of these are fat, dumb and happy and more to the point, totally oblivious to what goes on in our government, as long as they have beer and Monday night football. And that's just how it is.

Second, we've let the government get way too big, and involved with too many aspects of our lives. We've allowed too much socialism to enter our system so that now, we don't even remember what we were originally about.

If you have a solution to the two problems above, and the energy to implement the solution, I'll hold your coat for you. Otherwise, we're both just going to have to settle being outraged while we see more and more of our rights stripped away. Enjoy what we got while we still have it.

Let me add this!

Wasn't Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, before she was made Secretary, head of the NSA.

I doubt very much if this information what the NSA was doing was know to the public at the time she was nominated she would have never would have became Secretary of State.

Bill

It's too bad there is little, if any, satisfaction in saying "us liberals saw this coming" and/or that we called the administration on these issues four years ago and have been doing so ever since ...

Bill - please, pleade, please tell me there is NO way under he** that a 3rd term could happen

Puna: You don't need Bill or anyone else on this board to tell you "there is no way of a third term," the consitution will tell you that. I might add, that is a provision that was generated by the Republican party and passed by two thirds of the states the make it become an amendment.

Were it not for that amendment we still would not know that Ronald Reagan was dead and Nancy would be running the show. Just saying "Ronny is a little under the weather now."

Bill from NYC writes: Not!
She was the President's National Security Advisor: A job that does not include heading up the National Security Agency (aka 'No such Agency') One might think that a person in such a sensitive position would receive regular briefings from Intelligence Agencies. I don't know if the National Security Agency was 'in that loop' since it functions mainly as a unit within the Department of Defense. All the Intel it develops is probably passed to DOD Analysts; and if the DOD Analyst(s) consider the Intel significant, to the FBI or the CIA.

Hey! why would anyone believe anything Condaleeza Rice has to say? She and the current administration have shown over and over again thier capacity for bending, spinning,misleading obstructing, and out and out oblitterating the "truth".
Just last week she's running around Europe and the world denying that the Bush's have ever been involved in torture or mistreatment of suspects and prisoners in any way, shape, or form,. At the same time her "crime partner" Mr. Fascist himself "Herr Cheney" is in Washington trying to have the CIA exempted from any part of the "refreshing and overdue" Senator McCain (Ariz.) amendment banning torture. (now this is a Republican with huevos!!)
So to even for a minute, believe anything this administration has to say is absurd.

Fulano and Bill,

I really can't wait to meet this future administration that will be open and honest with the American public. I'm 47 years old, and it's yet to happen in my lifetime. For example, I don't remember President Kennedy being very honest about the number of "advisors" in place in Viet Name. Not very honest about that at all. Which party do you think could produce such a president? And more importantly, how long to you think a president's political career would last if he was to clearly reveal the inner-workings of our government?

Please don't be of the opinion that this gives any president a free pass to trash our laws. No government can follow laws that would or could lead to it's own destruction. Any responsible leader is going to break the laws in the name of expedience if they think it necessary for our survival. The irresponsible part is that our media exposes this for their own political agenda.

That being said, I also think the current administration has very clumsily and heavy-handedly wielded its power over the public. The irony is, because they, the government and accompanying bureaucracy, dropped the ball, allowing 9/11 to be successful, they trash our rights and do hardly any restructuring in-house. Did anyone in our government lose their job over their failure? This is the absurdity.