Three Years of Hell to Become the Devil: One Mistake, Two Mistake, Red Mistake, Blue Mistake

First, let me say that whatever one's partisan opinions, this is pretty funny. Attorney General Gonzales at the Senate hearings on Monday:

"I gave in my opening statement, Senator, examples where President Washington, President Lincoln, President Wilson, President Roosevelt have all authorized electronic surveillance of the enemy on a far broader scale -- far broader -- without any kind of probable cause standard, all communications in and out of the country."

Such slips, especially those made in front of cameras on national TV, are always funny. Gonzales obviously meant to say "~~domestic~~ international," but as it came out, he seems to suggest our first president had a lot of free time. The status reports must have been great: "Mr. President, sir, today's wiretapping report is the same as yesterdays: 'What are we tapping?'"

So yes, he may be a member of my party, but anyone--even the Attorney General--should be able to have a laugh at that. It's fairly harmless.

On the other hand, we should also be able to laugh at its opposite. A number of leftish websites, for instance Pat Morrison of the Huffington Post, take issue with the AG for citing not only Washington, but also a supposedly anachronistic President Lincoln. But Lincoln actually belongs to the age of early electronic surveillance, and the civil war wasn't exactly scarce on wiretaps. They seem to have forgotten the telegraph, which is a shame considering the role it played in the Civil War.

UPDATE: Actually, looking at his speech, he might have used the words international. Anyway, what all those presidents have in common is wanting to spy on communications going into and out of the United States.

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Giving The Devil His Due

Comments

I actually found this funny because it makes it seem as if Washington had access to electronic surveillance back in the days of Benjamin Franklin and his kite.

Posted by: Adam | February 8, 2006 10:03 PM

Ugh. Just noticed you pointed this out. That's what I get for skimming.

Posted by: Adam | February 8, 2006 10:05 PM

I'm pretty certain that's the only thing that's funny, Adam. ;) But if you'd like me to delete the posts, I'd be happy to do so.

Posted by: A. Rickey | February 8, 2006 10:32 PM