Judge to Bush: No kings in America

U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor called a halt to the NSA's domestic spying program today. The decision is here.

It will be interesting to watch how steadfastly the President and Gonzalez and the various minions of authority completely ignore the constitution in their response to this. I expect a carefully orchestrated concert of euphimisms on the Sunday talkies. I expect that the concepts of "Doing what it takes to keep you safe," and "Terrorist Surveillance" will play heavily. I expect that some on the right will continue to call for the death of "liberals" with loose lips and have "fun" with the reporters that broke the story by calling them murderers. So let me get this straight, you guys want to keep me safe and kill me?

Don't think for a minute that this is about security. It isn't. It's about power. The administration could keep us just as safe by agressively working through FISA, or working to change the law to adapt to current events. But the authoritarian mindset resists transparency . Thankfully, as the good judge points out:

We must first note that the Office of the Chief Executive has itself been created, with its powers, by the Constitution. There are no hereditary Kings in America and no power not created by the Constitution. So all "inherent power" must derive from that Constitution."

Our security depends most heavily on our understanding of the civil liberties granted us in our constitution. King George cannot keep us safe. President Bush might be able to.