Over at TAPPED, Ezra Klein proposes the following maxim as a means of understanding the Bush administration: "Bush's Razor: Given a possible universe of explanations for a particular administration action, the most morally pessimistic and politically cynical will inevitably be proven correct."

As the details of the US attorney purge leak out, it's clear that the Bush administration sought to convert the Justice Department into a partisan sledgehammer reminiscent of the way Nixon subverted the machinery of the state to pursuing his own petty vendettas. So here's the next question: We know that the administration has the power to wiretap any American it wants. Back during the Nixon administration, the White House used similar powers to spy on political enemies. Has the Bush administration done the same? As of now there's no evidence that they have, but given their record, and the hyper partisan mo that the most recent scandal is illuminating, it seems like a perfectly reasonable question to ask.

Comments (8)

1. The question isn't whether or not the Bush regime has been illegally wiretapping American citizens (it has, this is an undeniable fact). The question is: Which Americans are being spied on, why are they being spied on and for how long this has been going on?

   Posted by ARCHANGEL_M at 03/14/2007 @ 1:08pm

2. Okay now THIS one will be the downfall of the Bushes........Okay THIS one........okay, those others didn't pan out...but THIS one will do it.....okay, THIS one........by the way there are still lingering questions about #s 2 and # 5......oh wait....THIS one will do it, since now we have a Democratic Congress......no...wait.....THIS one will be the one that brings down the house of cards....No, not the "house of cards" we discussed back in 2003...or the one from 2004...or the one from 2005....or last years....but THIS discussion of the fall of the house of cards.....

   wait a minute...something fresh off the newswires.....

   AH-HA!!!!

   Posted by Mask at 03/14/2007 @ 1:16pm

3. I'll be pissed if I find out they aren't tapping my phone.

   Posted by fromredbird at 03/14/2007 @ 1:41pm

4. I'll be pissed if I find out they aren't tapping my phone.

   Posted by FROMREDBIRD 03/14/2007 @ 1:41pm |

   First and foremost, you would have had to have said something worth listening to, then it must be considered a threat to the general population or the nation...after 2 minutes they would have decided you are a kook fringe , a joke not to be taken seriously, then they pulled the plug and went to lunch....sorry.

   Posted by john maasch at 03/14/2007 @ 1:55pm

5. Posted by JOHN MAASCH 03/14/2007 @ 1:55pm

   (Would go down like this...)

   Ed the NSA guy: What do we got here, Frank?

   Frank NSA: Looks like another 'anti-Zionist', 'AIPAC controls both parties' lefty, Ed.

   Ed: Anything suspicious?

   Frank: Naw, the usual blogging. Bitchin about Bush AND the Democrats. He was whooping it up about the November midterms for about a week, then started in on "They're all the same" not 10 days later.

   Ed: Any threat?

   Frank: Nawwwww, student (carpenter, 3rd shift factory worker). Guy blogs for a few hours, then plays his "Syriana" DVD for the 45th time, then goes out to hear some garage band play anti-war songs....but he's never even been to a rally. Hitchikers Guide time.

   Ed: Hitchikers Guide???

   Frank: Yeah, what the character Ford Prefect labelled the Earth..."mostly harmless".

   Ed: Okay, pull the plug...let's go get something to eat and relieve the guys working the PsyOps over at "The Nation". This week I get to be "RESE" and you get to be "PLUNGER".

   Posted by Mask at 03/14/2007 @ 2:27pm

6. Hey archangel, it's lucifer or lucem ferre as I prefer to be called. It's been a while. How have you been since my departure? You know it's really tough bringing light to a darkened world but someone has to do it. As the prodigal son, the one thrown away because of my perpensity for exposing that which is hidden by darkenss, I've come to understand a few things about spying. Big Brother (God on earth) has been collecting personal data and using it against Americans since the dawn of this nation. Hoover had it all on 8 presidents and King, Malcolm X, the Panthers, the NOW, Gays, the American Indian Movement, John Lenon and even the most threatening force of all...Elvis. Nothing is new and neither party is clean, but I submit to the people this proposal. Let's all decide not to pay our taxes for 5 years and see what happens. Can you imagine what would happen if 50% of working Americans decided not to pay their taxes. It's so simple yet impossible, because we're a nation of talkers not doers. If you really want to hold our Government responsible, take away it's funding source and instead of paying taxes, take the money you save from FICA and give it to your local charities and organizations that are really helping people in need. Shut this system of corruption down.

   Okay, now that I've gotten that off my wing, let's see if my blog is being spied upon. If you guys do not hear from me in the next couple of weeks, assume that I've been approached by someone I know, perhaps a "friend," and he tells me, as I'm walking down the street, to get into the slow moving long black car pulling up behind me. Then assume that, instead of running I make the fatal mistake of trusting this friend and I get into that car. (Anyone see Three Days of the Condor - with Rober Redford) Lucem ferre

   Posted by Lucem ferre at 03/15/2007 @ 11:37am

7. It's also time to finally peel the "ignorance" label off George Bush. It seem unlikely that he was completely ignorant of all the underhanded dealings of his staff.

   He shouldn't only be "held accountable' for what happened under his watch, he should also be exposed for full knowledge and culpability of these "impeachable/traitorous" acts.

   Let's stop treating George Bush as a complete idiot and realize that he may only be half idiot and the other half ..... perhaps a devious, immoral, nasty, bully who is easily led to seek revenge against anyone who searches for the truth.

   It's not just Cheney and Rove. The true villans are the troika of Bush, Cheney, and Rove.

   Posted by bohdan yuri at 03/16/2007 @ 3:34pm

8. "Back during the Nixon administration, the White House used similar powers to spy on political enemies. Has the Bush administration done the same?"

   Yeah, a lot of environmentalist and antiwar organizations -look it up at the ACLU website.

   Also I just read somewhere in the deluge of news about the 'Prosecutor Purge' that a bug was found in one of the prosecutors offices but I don't remember which one.

   Posted by cominin at 03/17/2007 @ 4:48pm