Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Orwellian or Orrinian Twist?

Dear President Bush,

In an Orwellian twist Senator Orrin Hatch defended the broad monitoring programs at the center of recent controversies. Senator Hatch cited the Secret Court is aware of the Secret Programs and no objections have been raised.

Orrin did offer some clarifications of this “no objections”. The first is “as far as I know”. Have the judges raised concerns of which Mr. Hatch is unaware? The second qualification came in response to if judges somehow approved of the operation. “That is not their position, but they were informed.”

It sounds like your administration informed members of Congress and the Secret Court, yet did not ask their approval. And should they object, they have no place to take those concerns as they are sworn to secrecy.

It seems you have this tied up tight. You can pretend that you have approval when in reality all you have is an information trail with no opportunity for objection. Sinister? Twisted? George Orwell would be proud of someone’s creative genius, however he might think it belongs more in a fictional story vs. reality.

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