The "W" stands for, "Warrants? We don't need no steenking warrants!"

I should learn to stop wondering, "How much worse can it get," under the Bush junta, because, for five years without fail, we keep finding out.

Spying.

On American citizens.

Without warrants, in seemingly clear violation of the law, not to mention the Constitution. (Gracias, Hilzoy at Kevin Drum's Political Animal)

And not only does he admit it, and not care, but FUCKING ACCUSES THE NEW YORK TIMES OF ENDANGERING NATIONAL FUCKING SECURITY FOR EXPOSING HIM FOR THE FUCKING CRIMINAL HE IS!

What, exactly, does the media, the American people, the Democratic party, hell, the REPUBLICAN party, have to see to stand up and say, "no more?"

Bush, going Mr. Blonde with a straight razor and a gas can, on someone "with known links to al Qaeda and related terrorist organizations?"

As outrageous as Dear Leader's contempt for the Constitution and the rule of law may be, the worse thing is that, as it stands, it's a 99% chance nothing will come of this. Unless this congress demonstrates a near-total reversal in its approach to the oversight role, G-Dubs will be smirking at 1600 until 2008.

As for the people, the BushCo faithful still believe Iraq was involved in 9/11, and had (some think still has) WMD, despite the clearest of evidence and statements to the contrary. If that didn't shake them, what are the minutiae of the FISA statutes going to do?

Opinions on Iraq, terrorism, and whatever else, aside, Warrant(less)gate transcends any divisions between parties or ideologies. Forget the civil libertarians, measures like this should scare the hell out of legitimate conservatives, as much as anyone. Card-carrying members of NARAL and the NRA, alike, are committed to government noninterference in their lives. Well, what are we talking about, here? If American citizens are subject to warrantless government surveillance, Left and Right should be standing shoulder-to-shoulder. When Bush decided that hurricane reconstruction "will costs what it costs," while eschewing any mention of increasing tax revenue, fiscal conservatives found the resolve to point out the unacceptability of that position. It's imperative that the same thing occur, now. Blue state America and its representatives cannot right this wrong, unaided.