Smoking guns, hot to the touch...

Update: Josh Marshall has a post in today's Talking Points Memo answering a column by William Kristol and Gary Schmitt in which they basically argue that under extraordinary circumstances presidents can and should have the power to take extraordinary, sometimes extralegal measures.

Josh reminds me of why I voted for TPM in the Best Blog category of the Weblog Awards by citing Thomas Jefferson admitting this may be so...

But that wasn't the end of his point. Having taken such a step, it would then be the obligation of the president to throw himself on the mercy of the public, letting them know the full scope of the facts and circumstances he had faced and leave it to them -- or rather their representatives or the courts -- to impeach him or indict those who had taken it upon themselves to act outside the law.

As I recall Jefferson's argument there was never any thought that the president had the power to prevent future prosecutions of himself or those acting at his behest. Indeed, such a follow-on claim would explode whatever sense there is in Jefferson's argument.

Bill Clinton, Jan. 26, 1998: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman."

George W. Bush, April 20, 2004:

Secondly, there are such things as roving wiretaps. Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so. It's important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution.

I know I keep coming back to this, but it bears repeating until something is done: Any Republican (or for that matter any Democrat) who supported the impeachment and/or calls for resignation of Bill Clinton is now ethically required to do the same for Bush. Especially the ones who loved to mewl about how it wasn't the sex, it was the lie. They can't have it both ways.

ETA: Media Girl has good excerpts from (and comments on) Bush's attempted defense of illegally spying on Americans.

Bush: "That's what's important for the American people to understand. I am doing what you expect me to do, and at the same time safeguarding the civil liberties of the country."

You know I only rape you 'cause I love you, baby...why you make me keep hitting you?