President Bush has "quietly claimed sweeping new powers to open Americans' mail without a judge's warrant," the New York Daily News writes this morning.
When he put his signature on a postal reform bill on Dec. 20, the newspaper notes, the president added a "signing statement" that "declared his right to open people's mail under emergency conditions."
The key phrase in that statement:
"The executive branch shall construe subsection 404(c) of title 39, as enacted by subsection 1010(e) of the Act, which provides for opening of an item of a class of mail otherwise sealed against inspection, in a manner consistent, to the maximum extent permissible, with the need to conduct searches in exigent circumstances, such as to protect human life and safety against hazardous materials, and the need for physical searches specifically authorized by law for foreign intelligence collection." (USA Today)
Never mind - "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated..."
It seems "secure" and "papers" and "rights" are simply redefined pragmatically to meet the "needs" of the government in their effort to protect us all.
Folks say I am over the top when I claim that Bush and his crowd are fascist. I hardly think that simply because people are averse to use the term changes the fact that Bush meets all of the qualifications of a fascist - he clearly does (coporatism+nationalism+militarism+socialism).
Almost weekly now we receive yet another report of some aspect of another right either redefined or stripped away. And with each new usurpation there is a deafening silence from the public.
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