The Golden Lining to Warrantless Spying

(or Why Liberals Should Love the President’s Expansion of Power)

 

By Chuck Connell

 

Many liberals have been apoplectic about President Bush’s expansion of presidential power. The issue began with the president’s detention of suspected terrorists – without formal charges against them, without prisoner-of-war status, and for an indefinite period of time. The controversy grew over Bush’s interpretation of anti-torture legislation and his circumventing of the FISA court for telephone wiretaps. And just recently, the Boston Globe reported that the president has asserted the right to ignore more than 750 laws that he believes do not apply to him.

 

But rather than being furious, liberals should rejoice the president’s wonderful redefinition of administration authority. Here’s why…

 

The conservative/liberal balance in the United States always works like a pendulum. After the domestic liberalism of presidents Kennedy and Johnson, the Republicans won the next two elections. After Nixon was driven from office, a liberal Democrat won. After 12 years of Republican rule in the 1980s and early 1990s, which reinvigorated modern conservatism, a Democrat occupied the White House for eight years. The G.O.P. now controls the administration and Congress, but recent polls show that the country is growing dissatisfied with their performance.

 

So, the Democrats will re-take the presidency soon, possibly in 2008. The person who occupies this role will almost certainly be more liberal the George W. Bush. The golden lining to President Bush’s expansion of power is that the next liberal president can use his or her new clout to stamp out the unacceptable elements of conservatism in the United States.

 

There is nothing wrong with a little fiscal conservatism by the federal government. Not every Democrat believes in “tax and spend.” There is nothing wrong with a strong national defense, as long as it is used appropriately. But modern conservatism has gone too far and now includes insidious tenets that are harmful to democracy. In particular, the religious right must be reined in. Evangelical Christianity is a threat to American liberty and the freedoms we take for granted. Anti-abortion protests, led by conservative Christians, infringe on women’s ability to obtain adequate medical care. Conservative Christians are at the forefront of the anti-gay movement within the U.S., which is the antithesis of Jesus’ teachings and moves the U.S. away from proper Christian values. And the revival of creationism is harming America’s place among educated members of the world community, making us a laughingstock and less competitive in world markets.

 

A liberal president should act on Day 1 of his or her administration to make America safer by monitoring and curbing the activities of religious conservatives. Specifically, the president should:

 

·        Make it clear to the C.I.A. that they are to produce evidence of direct threats to our country by conservative organizations, to gain support for a program of American re-liberalization. But communicate this to the C.I.A. in a way that maintains plausible deniability for the president, in case he or she is asked whether the evidence was manipulated.

·        Direct the NSA to intercept telephone calls between prominent conservative organizations, especially those with religious roots, looking for planned illegal activities.

·        Bring the leaders of Evangelical Christian denominations to Washington D.C. for questioning, with the same goal. Imprison those leaders who are contemplating the further reduction of freedoms for American citizens.

·        When interrogating conservatives, allow the use of dietary manipulation (starvation), environmental control (freezing), and sleep deprivation (hallucination, insanity) as approved tactics.

·        Disallow photographs to be taken of any controversial action by liberals, because such pictures would undermine popular faith in the American heritage of liberty. This restriction is supported by the current precedent of the U.S. government disallowing photographs of caskets returning from the Iraq war.

·        Use the political appointment process to install liberal press officers at all government agencies, to make sure the agencies “stay on message” with the new president’s agenda.

·        Because some of these actions go beyond what is acceptable to moderate liberals, lie to the liberal base about his or her true intentions for shifting America radically to the left.

 

Republicans in Congress will not be able to make a peep when a liberal president begins to squash religious conservatism with these firm, but necessary, tactics. Why? Because those lawmakers are now lining up behind the president to support unchecked presidential rule. Any attempt by current senators or representatives to speak out about a liberal president-gone-wild will be met with derision and their own words in support of Bush’s expanded role. President Bush is establishing a fantastic precedent for future presidents.

 

Some readers might object that the scenario I outline here is ludicrous; no president could possibly maintain that religious conservatism is bad for America. But this is the beauty of the new presidential authority that Bush is polishing. The authority is self-defining and self-justifying. A liberal president simply needs to assert that, in his or her opinion, the religious right is a danger to U.S. national interests. This decision will not need the review of any court, because the power to perceive and define a threat rests with the president. The president can then choose what he or she must do to protect our country from the danger, and all these activities will be within the president’s constitutional power as commander-in-chief. If Congress passes a law specifically disallowing some of the actions by the administration, a liberal president can sign the law and then issue a “signing statement”, with his or her interpretation of what the law really means.

 

There has been a strong rightward tilt in U.S. policy, both domestic and international, during the five years of the Bush administration. This essay is a modest proposal hoping that the liberal president-in-waiting will use his or her newfound control to quickly steer our country away from the dangers of conservatism, back toward its rightful place as an open democracy.

 

 

Copyright Charles H. Connell Jr. 2006. Mr. Connell is a writer in Woburn, MA and can be reached at connell@chc-3.com. This article is available for publication, and copyright can be transferred or shared with the publishing entity.