From Truthout.org
Some conservatives defend the legality of the surveillance program. Among the most prominent has been David Rivkin, a former associate White House counsel in the administration of George H.W. Bush, who has recently found himself debating a series of conservatives who used to be his allies.
Rivkin said his fellow conservatives who call the surveillance program illegal are mostly libertarians and other believers in small government. The critics, he said, do not believe that the war on terrorism is a real war and that the nature of terrorism requires treating the home front like a battlefield.
"Most of the critics don't really agree that this is war, or if they do, they haven't thought through the implications," Rivkin said. "The rules in war are harsh rules, because the stakes are so high."
It's like he's saying "So what if this surveillance program is technically unconstitutional, it's so important that it doesn't matter if it's constitutional or not. Come on. Get with the program."
ReplyDeleteRivkin's logic could just as well apply to any Democrat saying that health care reform is so important that it doesn't matter if the Constitution authorizes it. The Bush years truly bankrupted American conservatism.