It's a saying and a principal of criminal and civil law that "
ignorance of the law is no excuse."
However, in the case of the Bush administration's illegal wiretapping program, Bush can't claim ignorance. He has publicly admitted to the program, to knowing about the 1978 FISA law, and to violate that law anyway.
Now, a challenge to Bush's behavior has gone to a judge who has clearly ruled that not only is the warrantless wiretapping Unconstitutitional, but that it does indeed violate the 1978 FISA law, which is a criminal law with penalties of up to 5 years in prison.
So, when will a mainstream reporter, someone in the Washington or White House press corps, ask Bush and his officials the obvious question:
"You are continuing a program which a judge has not only ruled to be Unconstitutional, but also illegal because it violates the 1978 FISA law, which is a federal criminal law against wiretapping Americans without a warrant. Are you prepared to face the criminal penalties for knowingly violating this criminal law, if your appeals are not upheld?"
Another question, for Gonzales, or Michael Hayden:
"Are you and all of the officials in your administration who are involved with this program, knowing that it violates a federal criminal law, prepared to face criminal prosecution under the statute?"
I am serious here. We have a situation where the President and his top officials are now continuing to violate federal criminal laws, and the only reason they have for doing so is because they claim that in "times of war" the President can violate any laws he wants. Now, to anyone who's taken a civics class or even just watched Schoolhouse Rock, it's obvious. Bush's actions are totally at odds with the US Constitution.
And yet no one will ask the question of Bush. You've made decisions knowing that you violated criminal laws, on the claim that you are above those laws. If a court holds that you are not, as you claim, allowed to violate criminal laws at your own choosing, are you prepared to face the consequences?
I'll hold my breath. Bush's actions are so brazen, that it's hard for most Washington reporters and insiders to fathom, much less report on, the basic facts of the situation -- what to do in the face of a President who defies the law, and a Congress that won't hold him accountable?
We basically have to make a choice here: either we fundamentally change the American system of government from that of a democracy, into a dictatorship where the President can do literally whatever he wants, regardless of any laws or courts. Now, this was the fundamental founding principle of the United States, what keeps us free -- the President is bound by the laws, so are all people who work in the government.
So, if we're going to keep operating by that principle, then we're going to have to face a situation where the President and his top officals have been knowingly violating criminal laws. Are they prepared to face the consequences of their actions?
Are we?
Crossposted at The New Down