Why Judge Diggs' NSA ruling will be reversed
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If this court is upheld or other courts follow suit, it will leave us with a most unpleasant issue that Democrats and Republicans alike have sought to avoid.Who, in Congress would have the cojones to call for the impeachment of the President at that point? And if they did, who would vote for it? And if the president was not impeached, and/or convicted, wouldn't that pretty much be the end of, you know, our democratic form of government? After all, the Constitution would then, finally and irrevocably, be shown to be completely irrelevant.Here it is: If this program is unlawful, federal law expressly makes the ordering of surveillance under the program a federal felony. That would mean that the president could be guilty of no fewer than 30 felonies in office. Moreover, it is not only illegal for a president to order such surveillance, it is illegal for other government officials to carry out such an order.
After that, what future president would look at this incident and not conclude that s/he could violate the law with impunity?
Ara, FISA was always a criminal statute. The NSA program was always a clear violation based on the plain meaning of the english language used in the statute. Americans know the system is rigged.
POTUS was all but accused of being stingy with pardons. He'll have his chance to catch up, that's all. What part of being lead by a crime syndicate these last five years haven't you understood? He enjoys sovereign immunity until he's gone -- one way or another. A good argument can be made that Cheney does too.
End of our democracy? Vote rigging is a far greater theat -- and 92% of Americans understand that too.
Call me naive, but more so than the 2nd amendment, the 1st amendment keeps the American dream alive, ever more so in the internet age.
Oh, and don't forget that they need a super majority in the Senate to convict. More than highly unlikely -- but impossible in the partisan climate of today. But it'll be great theater to watch John Conyers go at it then see a bunch of Dem Reps go over to the smaller chamber and try to make their bones the way Lindsay Graham did as an impeachment manager -- and there's bound to be a GOP version of Schumer in the House Judiciary committee too.
I do fully expect nasty hearings starting next January. More vetos, DC at a standstill, all good. That's democracy. And it will get much worse yet, before it gets better.
But we survived a Civil War, Nixon (which is where all this current nastyness started) and Disco. There is no Rubicon any American Ceasar can cross, take over the country, and declare an Imperial end of the Republic that the average person doesn't see comming and can resiste well before it happens.
The economy is in the toilet, our position as the world's moral authority is erased, our government's credibility nil at home an abroad, the inherent inequities of an unregulated capitalist society have wrecked ruin, and our status as an invincible superpower has been challenged.
Other than that, the American Republic is doing fine.
Don't forget the Rapture.
Like I said in the Israeli-Hezollah kerfluffle, all bets are off if it expands. You start a full scale, nuclear tipped exchange in that region, civilization itself will be a quaint memory.
Fundies scare me. Both the ones in Boise and the bedouins.
Unfortunately, running on a platform of avoiding armaggedon has never been a winner -- but that's your next post.