Constitution bound for the Crapper

Now that General Hayden, the man who so inably defended the NSA surveillance of American citizens, appears to be at the top of Bush's heap of constitutionally-unbounded contenders. As has now been pointed out at any number of places, General Hayden has little or no familiarity with the Constitution he swore to uphold, as a recent Q&A exposed. The best part of this is how insistent Hayden is about his utter wrongness:

Landay: "...the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution specifies that you must have probable cause to violate an American's right against unreasonable searches and seizures..."

Gen. Hayden: "No, actually - the Fourth Amendment actually protects all of us against unreasonable search and seizure."

Landay: "But the --"

Gen. Hayden: "That's what it says."

Landay: "The legal measure is probable cause, it says."

Gen. Hayden: "The Amendment says: unreasonable search and seizure."

Landay: "But does it not say 'probable cause'?"

Gen. Hayden [exasperated, scowling]: "No! The Amendment says unreasonable search and seizure."

Landay: "The legal standard is probable cause, General -- "

Gen. Hayden [indignant]: "Just to be very clear ... mmkay... and believe me, if there's any Amendment to the Constitution that employees of the National Security Agency are familiar with, it's the Fourth. Alright? And it is a reasonableness standard in the Fourth Amendment. The constitutional standard is 'reasonable'."

As we know, the fourth amendment actually says,

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

This exchange is quite indicative of Bush machine argument: profess something to be true long enough and loudly enough and that will make it so. This technique also establishes your alpha-male bona fides and further serves to silence your opponent at the moment, deflecting reality to a later, unspecified date.

Of course, it had been reported previously as to just what George Bush thinks of the Constitution, a Constitution neither he nor his lackeys apparently can read:

“I’m the President and the Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way.”

“Mr. President,” one aide in the meeting said. “There is a valid case that the provisions in this law undermine the Constitution.”

“Stop throwing the Constitution in my face,” Bush screamed back. “It’s just a goddamned piece of paper!”

And Bush and his buddies will flush it down the crapper, putting it just where they think it belongs.