C&L Vid Clip: "Bob Barr: The president violated the law"

Bob Barr: The president violated the law



http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/12/17.html#a6367

Bob Barr came out swinging against Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) on CNN yesterday-over news that President Bush has been spying on U.S. citizens.

BARR: What’s wrong with it is several-fold. One, it’s bad policy for our government to be spying on American citizens through the National Security Agency. Secondly, it’s bad to be spying on Americans without court oversight. And thirdly, it’s bad to be spying on Americans apparently in violation of federal laws against doing it without court order.

Video-WMP

BARR: Well, the fact of the matter is that the Constitution is the Constitution, and I took an oath to abide by it. My good friend, my former colleague, Dana Rohrabacher, did and the president did. And I don't really care very much whether or not it can be justified based on some hypothetical. The fact of the matter is that, if you have any government official who deliberately orders that federal law be violated despite the best of motives, that certainly ought to be of concern to us.

BARR: The fact of the matter is the law prohibits-specifically prohibits -what apparently was done in this case, and for a member of Congress to say, oh, that doesn’t matter, I’m proud that the president violated the law is absolutely astounding, Wolf." (Full transcript)
[br />Whenever a Presidential apologist is backed into a corner by the facts-they always seem to come up with some lame- brain "what if" scenario to justify the indefensible.

ROHRABACHER: Not only proud, we can be grateful to this president. You know, I'll have to tell you, if it was up to Mr. Schumer, Senator Schumer, they probably would have blown up the Brooklyn Bridge. The bottom line is this: in wartime we expect our leaders, yes, to exercise more authority.

BARR: Well, first of all, or last of all, this so-called plot to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge was bogus because it had to do with a group of idiots who were planning to dismantle it with blow torches.

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10:49:17 PM permalink10:49:17 PM

when Bob Barr is the one making the most sense.

:crazy:

:wtf:

I guess respect for the Constitution CAN cross political lines.

He broke the law. Period. End of story. He can justify it to the ends of the earth, he can make his case to the highest court (barf!), he can rationalize until the cows come home. He. broke. the. law.

I want to get in front of a judge and say, "Yes, Your Honor, I stole the car but my car broke down and I needed to get to work or else I'll lose my job and my children will go hungry." Let's see how far I get with pleading the case of extreme circumstances.

And I'm disgusted with these apologists for bush. It goes to show you what utter contempt they have for the laws which govern us.

...about terrorists coming to San Francisco to blow up the Coit Tower and "we" are not going to help you...

I'll be glad when America is no longer in the talons of Bush-Cheney II.

:patriot:

In his roundabout way, he basically said "Yes, Bob, the Constitution be damned."

I've never liked Barr, but I've also never considered him a neocon. Perhaps that's why he didn't have neocon/fundie support to remain in Congress. He was basically dumped by his party after leading the campaign against Bill Clinton and he feels slighted.

Welcome to RepublicanWorld. :crazy:

Outrageous !

Bob Barr is ABSOLUTELY correct. 100%

till just now, and thanks so much for the link...wow, the idiot who supports Mr. PotatoHead in the oval office is a real cocky mofo. Good for Barr for standing up for what he took an oath to uphold. Screw you, Dana.

:kick:

bizarre position regarding the Constitution. Normally they thump their chests about strictly interpreting the Constitution, but now they are saying basically, "It's just a piece of paper.". We can use this to our advantage big time.

All of the sudden you care about the law? When did your hibernation end?

This is far worse than anything Clinton did.

I dare ya, double dog dare ya. Call for impeachment.

Mz Pip
:dem: