Cafferty Rips Bush Administration on Domestic Spying

The big story of the day was of course the decision handed down by U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit that said the Bush Administration's domestic spying program is unconstitutional and violated the separation of powers mandated by the Constitution.

Judge Taylor issued an order that the illegal program be halted immediately.

The case had been brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) which says that George W. Bush's spying program violates the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which requires court orders for such surveillance.

Team Bush decided that such laws -- nor the Constitution itself -- applied to them and today's ruling is the most serious rebuke they have had to date, given the lack of will on the part of the rubber-stamp GOP Congress to do anything about it.

Jack Cafferty, who we always seem to be able to count on to speak plainly the words that need to be said, laid it all out on CNN's The Situation Room today.

"This Federal district judge ruled today President Bush is breaking the law by spying on people, in this country, without a warrant. The judge said the President is violating the First Amendment to the Constitution. The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act FISA, passed by Congress 1978, specifically to prevent this kind of abuse of power. It was being done before. That’s why the FISA court was created in the first place.

"So what does this mean? It means President Bush violated his oath of office, among other things, when he swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States. It means he’s been lying to us about the program since it started, when tells us there’s nothing illegal about what he’s doing. A court has ruled it is illegal. And it means a 75 year old black female judge in Michigan has finally stepped in and done the job that Congress is supposed to do, namely oversight of the executive branch of government. But the gov…but the Congress is controlled by Republicans. They are controlled by the President, and they have done nothing in the way of oversight."

Our friends at Crooks and Liars have the full video clip and it's worth a look.