Shouldnt Bush be impeached for spying on US citize

[Occhidiangela]

So, considering that Clinton used the NSA to screen or wiretap millions of phone calls in 2000, shouldn't there have been an uproar then too, or is this purely for wiretapping done by GW or just Republicans in general?
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A

Whatever Clinton did or didn't do does not excuse unlawful actions on the part of the current President. One of the advantages of an open government is that questionable issues are exposed to the light of day, or should be. If this was questionable, but found to be legal, so be it. If not, then Congress has an obvious duty to pursue the matter further.

K

While the NSA is barred from domestic spying, it can get warrants issued with the permission of a special judicial body called the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court. Bush's action eliminated the need to get a warrant from the court.

This is the same soundbyte provided by my paper yesterday. Not sure I will have time to reserach the details in depth, thanks for the looking under the hood that you have already done.

Was his action legal? The 45 day renewal piece I was unaware of. That changes my gut perception, though I am still uncomfortable, possibly because I don't know enough. I expect that after consulting his legal advisors, it was either deemed legal or was yet another case of surfing the loopholes -- which approach has provided all and sundry much amusement in re Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (I don't know if you have a Rush Limbaugh "Club Gitmo" T-shirt or not, but I have on a couple of occasions been tempted to order one. Just for the sick joke.)

Occhi