Bad Call

The Bush Administration is straining credulity in their War on (Domestic) Terror. In an appearance before the House Judiciary Administration, Attorney General Gonzalez "suggested that the administration could decide it was legal to listen in on a domestic call without supervision if it were related to al-Qaeda", according to the Washington Post. (Hat tip to Dead Parrots).

Gonzales previously testified in the Senate that Bush had considered including purely domestic communications in the NSA spying program, but he said the idea was rejected in part because of fears of a public outcry. He also testified at the time that the Justice Department had not fully analyzed the legal issues of such a move.

There is a fundamental problem here. If (a) domestic wiretapping is not important to the administration, this should not come up. But clearly they would like to do it. And (b) they've had four and a half years to have their lawyers look into this! If they are telling the truth, they are lazy. And if they've been energetic about anything, it's the War on Terror. So that leaves us with the possibility that they are lying, and they've decided to play their legal cards close to the vest, which is understandable.

Why should the administration desire to eavesdrop on citizens, given the likely public-opinion fallout? As I said in my research piece on the international wiretapping, this could be out of a desire to use massive automated electronic filters. But if this is the case, they need to change the law - not circumvent it.

At first appearance, there were a number of plausible explanations for the wiretapping programs. However, the administration has been ruling out those explanations most favorable to them, and is forcing us to conclude that they have no desire to conduct policy in a straightforward way and are essentially kleptocratic. I wish somebody inside the White House understood how bad this is for them and for the country.