Adventures in My Mind
 |
 |
 |
 |
Jan 5, 2007
Now He Wants to Open Your Mail
Statement May Allow Gov't to Open Mail
Currently, and thankfully, postal law requires a search warrant before the G-Men can open your mail. But that may no longer be true. Thanks to a signing statement attached to a postal reform bill, W. has reserved the right to construe the law "in a manner consistent, to the maximum extent permissible, with the need to conduct searches in exigent circumstances."
The key here is what does "exigent circumstances" mean in the W. vernacular. Well, maybe not in his vernacular exactly, since I doubt the Prodigal President knows himself. The better question is what does it mean to Alberto "El Jeffe" Gonzales.
Normally it would mean emergency circumstances. Like if postal authorities were concerned that a package contained a bomb. They are allowed to open that package without obtaining a warrant. But since the law already allows for such necessary exceptions, why exactly is W. reserving the right to do just that unless he is positioning the executive branch to be the final arbiter of what exigent circumstances are.
And what might those circumstances be exactly? How about an ongoing, nebulous War on Terror that knows no borders and has no criteria for winning. One that has already seen an uprecedented power grab by this president and his cabal of neo-con thugs.
But Whitehouse meat puppet Tony Snow says not to worry. In a press briefing today he said, "As has been the long-standing practice, first-class mail is protected from unreasonable search and seizure when in postal custody. Nothing in the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act changes this protection. The president is not exerting any new authority." Right. At least until he exerts new authority.
And of course this news is quietly disseminated through a humdrum daily briefing during a day of great importance on Capitol Hill, where Democrats take over for the first time in 12 years and Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) takes over as Speaker of the House - the first time ever this position has been held by a woman. While both of these of facts are important politically, they pale when compared to this latest power grab by George II. And we get it stuffed into page ten with the other throw aways.
It just keeps getting better and better ...
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 5:45 PM
