Connectin' the Dots

King Chimp speaks:

This new threat required us to think and act differently. And as the 9/11 Commission pointed out, to prevent this from happening again, we need to connect the dots before the enemy attacks, not after. And we need to recognize that dealing with al Qaeda is not simply a matter of law enforcement: It requires defending the country against an enemy that declared war against the United States of America.
Didn't any of you learn the real lesson of Vietnam? We have to destroy our freedom in order to save it.

As president and commander in chief, I have the constitutional responsibility and the constitutional authority to protect our country. Article 2 of the Constitution gives me that responsibility and the authority necessary to fulfill it.
What about the constitutional responsibility to protect the constitution?

And after September the 11th, the United States Congress also granted me additional authority to use military force against al Qaeda.

After September the 11th, one question my administration had to answer was, using the authorities I have, how do we effectively detect enemies hiding in our midst and prevent them from striking us again?
Kind of like what this guy was trying to do, right?

We know that a two-minute phone conversation between somebody linked to al Qaeda here and an operative overseas could lead directly to the loss of thousands of lives. To save American lives, we must be able to act fast and to detect these conversations so we can prevent new attacks.
...of course, and, going through the proper channels would lead directly to the completion of many pages of paperwork with the attendent risk of papercuts rising with every page.

So, consistent with U.S. law and the Constitution, I authorize the interception of international communications of people with known links to al Qaeda and related terrorist organizations.
And we know they're only spying on people with known links to al Qaeda. The president is saying so, shouldn't that be enough?

This program is carefully reviewed approximately every 45 days to ensure it is being used properly. Leaders in the United States Congress have been briefed more than a dozen times on this program.
Whose lucky enough to be considered a leader? Is each leader briefed more than a dozen times or are they briefed a dozen times between them? And does this matter more than 'how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?' if the leaders in the congress in question were not allowed to disclose that they've been thus briefed anyhow?

[Snip]
My personal opinion is it was a shameful act, for someone to disclose this very important program in time of war.
Yep. We need to keep foolin' those terrorists into thinkin' the government of this country still respect the consitutional rights of its citizens.

The fact that we're discussing this program is helping the enemy.
Now they know that we know that they know that we're watching them!

[snip]

But it is a shameful act by somebody who has got secrets of the United States government and feels like they need to disclose them publicly.
If George ever found anyone disclosing government secrets on his watch, boy is he ever going to rake them over the coals. Oh wait.