"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast" -Oscar Wilde |
"The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth, shall be watered also himself." -- Proverbs 11:25 |
Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., believes President Bush is acting more like a sovereign monarch than an elected leader by authorizing the National Security Agency to listen in on Americans' phone calls.
"We have a system of law," Feingold said. "He just can't make up the law … It would turn George Bush not into President George Bush, but King George Bush."
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Feingold, who is believed to be considering a run for president in 2008, said the president has legal options to listen to American's conversations as stipulated by the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act. For example, Feingold said that in the event of an emergency, the president is allowed to eavesdrop for 72 hrs.
Feingold, the only senator who initially opposed the Patriot Act, which was designed to protect Americans from terrorism, said that the spying is indicative of a "pattern of abuse" including torture and secret prisons. The president, Feingold said is "grabbing too much power."
Feingold said aspects of the Patriot Act, like those that allow the government to access things like medical and library records, are ineffective because they "target innocent people."