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| Post Number: 21
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Liberal 
Group: Moderator
Posts: 11451
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Dec. 19 2005,10:39 pm |
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by the way - Condi didn't say, Quote
I'm not a lawyer, I'm not a lawyer, I'm not a lawyer.....
the transcript for that show will be out in about 2 weeks and then we can post the exact quotes...
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MediaMatters.Org says that Rice said "I'm not a lawyer" 3 different times during the interview.
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Instead, Russert allowed Rice to repeatedly insist that Bush "has acted within his constitutional authority and within statutory authority" while avoiding specific explanations by saying, "I'm not a lawyer."
For example, Russert asked Rice: "What is the legal authority? What is the constitutional authority for the president to eavesdrop on American citizens without getting court approval?" Rice responded: "The president is acting under his constitutional authority, under statutory authority." She then insisted, "I'm not a lawyer, but the president has gone to great lengths to make certain that he is both living under his obligations to protect Americans from another attack but also to protect their civil liberties." Without elaborating what she meant by "constitutional authority," Rice added that "the president is drawing on his constitutional authorities to protect the country."
Russert noted that "[t]he law is very clear that a person is guilty of an offense unless they get a court order before seeking to wiretap an American citizen" and asked Rice why the president did not "get a court order." Rice responded: "The FISA is indeed an important source of that authority, and in fact, the administration actively uses FISA," adding that "the president has drawn on additional authorities that he has under the Constitution and under other statutes." When Russert asked Rice, "What are the other authorities?," Rice again responded: "I'm not a lawyer, but the president has constitutional authority and he has statutory authorities."
Following Rice's acknowledgement that she knew about the program when it was authorized, Russert asked: "And what Democrats and Republicans in Congress are asking, Madame Secretary, is what is the authority that you keep citing? What law, what statute? Where in the Constitution does it say the president can eavesdrop, wiretap American citizens without a court order?" Rice insisted that Bush "has acted within his constitutional authority and within statutory authority" before once again explaining, "Now, I am not a lawyer."
http://mediamatters.org/items/200512190012
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The people are masters of both Congress and courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert it!
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| Post Number: 22
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Gomer
Group: Members
Posts: 133
Joined: Aug. 2005
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Posted on: Dec. 20 2005,8:48 am |
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We should be more than skeptical. Outraged and demanding our liberties be protected is what we should be.
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| Post Number: 23
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Berserker
Group: Members
Posts: 157
Joined: Aug. 2005
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Posted on: Dec. 20 2005,8:57 am |
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Now thats better Gomer. Defend your rights till the end. Give them an inch and they will take a mile. It is the SOP of big government. And there are many examples.:angry:
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"No iron could bite them, and when they swept into battle, no force could resist them." - Icelandic Sagas
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security."-Benjamin Franklin
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| Post Number: 24
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Expatriate
Group: Members
Posts: 16774
Joined: Oct. 2004
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Posted on: Dec. 20 2005,1:49 pm |
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| Quote (REPOMAN @ Dec. 19 2005,4:53pm) | by the way - Condi didn't say, | Quote | | I'm not a lawyer, I'm not a lawyer, I'm not a lawyer..... |
the transcript for that show will be out in about 2 weeks and then we can post the exact quotes... 
you play it a little fast and loose with the truth - that is wreckless at best and is in fact dishonest... |
Criticism
I find the pain of a little censure, even when it is unfounded, is more acute than the pleasure of much praise..
Thomas Jefferson
Meet the Press puts out the transcript the same day, you can read it or watch at the following link...
yes Dr. Rice distinctively says three separate times I'm not a lawyer.
Meet The Press
Even staunch Republicans such as Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania say they are troubled by the Administrations actions.
I can understand the need for this type of surveillance but there's a protocol to be followed, the Executive branch of the government has bypassed the Judicial branch and upset the check and balance of the system.
I questioned the administration's decision to not seek court-approved warrants when FISA courts have almost never rejected them., and the warrants could be obtained retroactively. According to the Electronic Privacy Information Center, FISA courts have rejected only four of over 15,000 warrant requests made since 1979. That number includes over 4,000 warrant requests since the 9/11 attacks.
I can only suspect that the president wanted to avoid accountability possibly another Nixon era enemies list.
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History is no more than the lies agreed upon by the victors.
~NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
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| Post Number: 25
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REPOMAN
Group: Members
Posts: 1556
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Dec. 20 2005,2:26 pm |
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Does this look like she said | Quote | | I'm not a lawyer, I'm not a lawyer, I'm not a lawyer... |
SEC'Y RICE:
| Quote | Tim, first much all, the president has authorized – and it's important to talk about what he's actually authorized. He's authorized the National Security Agency to collect information about the activities of a limited number of people with ties to Al-Qaeda so that there is not a seam between the territory of the United States and the territory abroad. One of the most compelling outcomes of the 9-11 Commission was that a seam had developed. Our intelligence agencies looked out, our law enforcement agencies looked in, and people--terrorists could exploit the seam between them. So the president is determined that he will have the ability to make certain that that seam is not there, that the communications between people, a limited number of people with Al-Qaeda links here and conversations with terrorist activities outside will be understood so that we can detect and thereby prevent terrorist attacks.
The president is acting under his constitutional authority, under statutory authority. I'm not a lawyer, but the president has gone to great lengths to make certain that he is both living under his obligations to protect Americans from another attack but also to protect their civil liberties. And that's why this program is very carefully controlled. It has to be re-authorized every 45 days. People are specially trained to participate in it, and it has been briefed to leadership of the Congress and including the leadership of the Intelligence Committee. So in a time when the war on terrorism is not just one in which people carry on activities outside the country but also activities inside the country, the president is drawing on his constitutional authority to protect the country. |
SEC'Y RICE: | Quote | | Tim, again, I'm not a lawyer, but the president has constitutional authority and he has statutory authorities. Tim, let's remember that we are talking about the ability to collect information on the geographic territory that is the United States. Some people are American citizens; others are not. What the president wants to prevent is the use of American territory as a safe haven for communications between terrorist operating here or people with terrorist links operating here and people operating outside of the country. |
SEC'Y RICE: | Quote | Tim, the president has authorities under FISA, which we are using and using actively. He also has constitutional authorities that derive from his role as commander in chief and his need to protect the country. He has acted within his constitutional authority and within statutory authority.
Now, I am not a lawyer. And I am certain that the attorney general will address a lot of these questions but the fact is that the president has an obligation. He took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. That means both to protect and defend Americans physically from the kind of attack that we experienced on September 11, and to protect their civil rights and civil liberties and he is doing both. But I want to remind people that we are in a different kind of war. We're in a war where if we allow people to commit the crime, then thousands die. And so the ability to detect, the ability to disrupt-- this is a war where intelligence is the long pole in the tent. Because we can do everything we can to protect our ports, to make our borders more secure, to try and disrupt terrorists abroad, but if, in fact, people operate within the country as they were doing on September 11, then we're not going to be able to protect the country. |
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| Post Number: 26
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REPOMAN
Group: Members
Posts: 1556
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Dec. 20 2005,2:30 pm |
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| Quote (Expatriate @ Dec. 18 2005,5:46pm) | | CONDOLEEZZA RICE answers: I'm not a lawyer, I'm not a lawyer, I'm not a lawyer..... |
I watched the show - I know she said she wasn't a lawyer 3 different times - but reading the Ex-Patriot's post you would think that she blurted it out in succession like a babbling idiot...
she was trying to give a well thought out answer - while not pretending to be the total legal authority on the issue... 
there is a big difference in how she stated she was not a lawyer three different times in the interview rather than the misconception that is left by posting that she said: | Quote | | I'm not a lawyer, I'm not a lawyer, I'm not a lawyer..... |
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| Post Number: 27
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Expatriate
Group: Members
Posts: 16774
Joined: Oct. 2004
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Posted on: Dec. 20 2005,2:32 pm |
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| Quote (REPOMAN @ Dec. 20 2005,2:26pm) | Does this look like she said | Quote | | I'm not a lawyer, I'm not a lawyer, I'm not a lawyer... |
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| Quote | | I watched the show - I know she said she wasn't a lawyer 3 different times - but reading the Ex-Patriot's post you would think that she blurted it out in succession like a babbling idiot... |
Dr. Rice a babbling idiot...no, I merely said she repeated I'm not a lawyer several times and didn't answer the Question adequately.
Now if we're talking babbling idiots your grammar school posts qualify you for that position on this board..
Resort is had to ridicule only when reason is against us.
Thomas Jefferson
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History is no more than the lies agreed upon by the victors.
~NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
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| Post Number: 28
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Botto 82
Group: Members
Posts: 6293
Joined: Jan. 2005
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Posted on: Dec. 20 2005,2:58 pm |
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Ever notice how stupidly partisan this rhetoric gets? I have yet to hear someone be analytical enough to say something like, "You know, I really disagree with Mr. Bush's handling of X, but I think he did a good job with Y."
Us or them. You're 100% with us or you're 100% against us. Both sides are guilty of this, and it accomplishes absolutely nothing...
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Dear future generations: Please accept our apologies. We were rolling drunk on petroleum.
- Kurt Vonnegut
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| Post Number: 29
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REPOMAN
Group: Members
Posts: 1556
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Dec. 20 2005,3:25 pm |
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I agree with you - but I have to say that I have disagreed with the President on some issues...
spending is out of control...
I also disagree with the GOP on gun control and tobacco - other than that - I am pretty much in lock step with the party...
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| Post Number: 30
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REPOMAN
Group: Members
Posts: 1556
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Dec. 20 2005,3:31 pm |
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| Quote (Expatriate @ Dec. 20 2005,2:32pm) | Dr. Rice a babbling idiot...no, I merely said she repeated I'm not a lawyer several times and didn't answer the Question adequately.
Now if we're talking babbling idiots your grammar school posts qualify you for that position on this board.. |
I'll defer to you as an expert on being a babbling idiot...
and the point remains that you lack the integrity to put up honest representations of what people like the President and Dr. Rice say...
you need to distort and exaggerate in order that you might be able to gain some sort of a tactical advantage - or find some like-minded poorly read person out there that will jump on your bandwagon of propaganda and help spread and smear your manure...
luckily there are people around to put you in check - as a matter of fact - checkmate Mr. Dishonest...
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