"To what purpose are powers limited, and to what purpose is that limitation committed to writing,
if these limits may, at any time, be passed by those intended to be restrained?"
-- Chief Justice John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison, 1803

Thursday, June 26, 2008

In the post immediately preceding this one I wrote, “The Bush administration has been assuring us for years that the men in detention at Gitmo are the worst of the worst, pure terrorist scum, men so dangerous that the very future of America depends on keeping them locked up forever.  ‘Trust us,’ they said.” Over at Cato’s blog Tim Lee discusses the recent FISA disaster, and commends Christopher Dodd’s plan to filibuster it.  He then provides a quote of Dodd’s speech from the Senate floor.

This bill does not say, “Trust the American people; Trust the courts and judges and juries to come to just decisions.” Retroactive immunity sends a message that is crystal clear: “Trust me.”

And that message comes straight from the mouth of this President. “Trust me.”

What is the basis for that trust? Classified documents, we are told, that prove the case for retroactive immunity beyond a shadow of a doubt. But we’re not allowed to see them! I’ve served in this body for 27 years, and I’m not allowed to see them! Neither are a majority of my colleagues. We are all left in the dark. I cannot speak for my colleagues—but I would never take “trust me” for an answer, not even in the best of times. Not even from a President on Mount Rushmore.

I can’t put it better than this: “‘Trust me’ government is government that asks that we concentrate our hopes and dreams on one man; that we trust him to do what’s best for us. My view of government places trust not in one person or one party, but in those values that transcend persons and parties.”

Those words were not spoken by someone who took our nation’s security lightly, Mr. President. They were spoken by Ronald Reagan — in 1980. They are every bit as true today, even if times of threat and fear blur our concept of transcendent values. Even if those who would exploit those times urge us to save our skins at any cost.  [Emphasis mine]

If you want a sign of just how fucking far the Bush administration has gone, you’ve got a libertarian conservative blogger (me) quoting a libertarian scholar (Tim Lee) at a libertarian think tank (Cato) quoting a liberal Democrat politician (Dodd) quoting the greatest conservative president ever (Reagan).  Welcome to Bizarro World.

Update: One more thought from Cato:

Reading Tim Lee on FISA, I had a historical revelation. We could have avoided the long national nightmare of Watergate if only the burglars had carried letters from President Nixon stating that John Dean had determined that they had a legal right to trespass.

I’d laugh if it weren’t so pathetically true.