I just learned that former Georgia Republican representative Bob Barr will introduce former Vice President Al Gore Monday for his speech that, writes The Nation‘s John Nichols, “could be not just one of the more significant speeches of his political career but an essential challenge to the embattled presidency of George W. Bush.” Here’s a screenshot from Bob Barr’s own Web site:
I just spoke with one of the organizers who is sending me an electronic packet on the Monday event (noon ET) at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. He tells me that the speech will not be carried live via the ‘net or TV, but will be taped by C-Span and aired later. Update: C-Span’s Web site says the Gore speech will be aired live on C-Span 1 at noon ET / 9am PT. (My contact will also inform me of replay times on C-Span.) (Tickets are available.)
The following is not just a list of the groups behind this event. It also is a template — I believe — for us to use to begin to battle for “checks and balances” in this time of constitutional crisis. I believe that we need to connect with these groups (at EPIC’s site), learn all we can, and offer them our support and our ability to publicize their events:
Liberty Coalition
http://libertycoalition.net/
–> Join Liberty Coalition’s e-mail list
American Constitution Society
http://www.acslaw.org/
Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances
http://www.checksbalances.org/
Al Gore “is expected to argue that the Bush administration has created a ‘Constitutional crisis’ by acting without the authorization of the Congress and the courts to spy on Americans and otherwise abuse basic liberties,” adds Nichols. “His aides and allies are framing it as a ‘call to arms’ in defense of the Bill of Rights and the rule of law in a time of executive excess.”
The vice president will, according to the groups that have arranged for his appearance — the bipartisan Liberty Coalition and the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy — address “the threat posed by policies of the Bush Administration to the Constitution and the checks and balances it created. The speech will specifically point to domestic wiretapping and torture as examples of the administration’s efforts to extend executive power beyond Congressional direction and judicial review.”
The EPIC site also lists numerous background documents:
Here’s a portion of what EPIC provides on the page:
Justice Department Defense of Domestic Surveillance Program (pdf):
nsaletter122205.pdf
Congressional Research Service Analysis of Domestic Surveillance Program
(pdf):
crs_analysis.pdf
Legal Scholars’ Analysis of Domestic Surveillance Program
dojreply.pdf
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[2] National Security Agency Domestic Spying Revealed
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Last month, President Bush admitted that he secretly issued an executive
order in 2002 that authorized the National Security Agency to conduct
warrantless surveillance of international telephone and Internet
communications on American soil.
Government officials have refused to give details about the program,
saying such disclosures could harm national security. However, the New
York Times has reported that the NSA conducted warrantless surveillance
on as many as 500 people inside the United States at any given time, and
that thousands of people within the country may have been monitored
since the operation began. President Bush has said that the
surveillance will continue.
The program operates outside the bounds set by the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act, which was passed after the Watergate scandal to
establish a legal basis for foreign intelligence surveillance within the
United States. Since the NSA program became public, Judge James
Robertson has resigned from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court,
which reviews applications and grants orders for foreign intelligence
gathering. Robertson’s resignation was reportedly in protest of the NSA
program.
In related news, EPIC has obtained the first Freedom of Information Act
documents about the controversial program. The documents include two
internal messages from the agency’s director to staff defending the
NSA’s activities and discouraging employees from discussing the issue
with the news media. In the second of those messages, Keith B.
Alexander, the Director of the NSA, wrote:
The President authorized NSA to execute this program consistent
with U.S. law and our Constitution. To guarantee adherence to the
law the authorization has been reviewed over thirty times,
approximately every forty-five days, since inception. The
authorization and the operation were reviewed and deemed legal by
the previous and current Attorneys General . . .
EPIC awaits additional documents from the agency.
Transcript of President’s Radio Address on NSA Surveillance: …