The random political thoughts thread

[Motorboat Cruiser]

Originally Posted by Motorboat Cruiser

Gonzales mentioned yesterday (with a straight face, mind you) that other presidents had authorized electronic surveillance including Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, etc.

Can I really trust the intellect of an attorney general who thinks that Washington and Lincoln authorized electronic surveillance.

Well, after doing some checking, apparently the quote was not entirely accurate. What Gonzalez actually said was that "President Bush was following in the tradition of such other wartime presidents as Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt when he ordered warrantless domestic wiretaps."

He then went on to explain that Lincoln had authorized telegraph wiretaps. I wasn't aware that such a thing existed but it still is a bit different from the original post I made. That's what I get for not checking the facts first.

My apologies.