Where is outrage for past presidents?

Published 9:00 pm Saturday, January 7, 2006

Regarding the Jan. 1 letter, “Loyal Americans should be outraged”: The writer wanted to know where the outrage was concerning President Bush’s use of electronic eavesdropping of communications from suspected terrorists outside the country made to contacts inside the U.S.

Where was the outrage when President Carter authorized electronic wiretaps for gathering foreign intelligence? Where was the outrage when President Clinton did the same? His deputy attorney general, Jamie Gorelick, testified to the Senate that “the Department of Justice believes that the president has inherent authority to conduct warrantless physical searches for foreign intelligence purposes.”

As is typical of liberals, they are only outraged when Republican presidents exercise their constitutional responsibilities to protect the country. They should be aware that no less than four federal courts of appeals on cases held on this matter ruled that the president has inherent authority to authorize wiretapping for foreign intelligence purposes without a judicial warrant. No U.S. citizen has claimed to be harmed by President Bush’s actions.

If the writer is concerned about invasion of privacy, where is his outrage over the Clintons’ use of the IRS to harass their opponents or those seeking redress for his disgusting acts against them. The Democrats are trying desperately to suppress independent counsel David Barrett’s final report, due out this month, showing this abuse.

After 9/11, many on the left were asking, “Why did he fail to connect the dots?” Now that he is doing just that he is being castigated by the left. A classic case of “Damned if you do and damned if you don’t.”

Robert Johnston

Camano Island