In the 6th District Court of Appeals (Cincinnati) where Judge Anna Diggs Taylor’s ruling that the Bush Administration broke the law with its unwarranted surveillance of hundreds of people, the government is trying out the divine right of secrecy argument: whether the surveillance was illegal cannot be answered without disclosing state secrets. Full stop.
Further, it is being asserted that those who believe they were spied on “have no standing” to bring the case; that the damage they suffered is vague and speculative. No standing, no suit. Of course the question then arises: who has standing — to argue that the consitution is being destroyed?
One’s mind turns to the Congress which is flexing its biceps recently but is far from being the full co-equal master of the house the founders envisioned.
Perhaps John Conyer’s proposed investigation into Bush’s signing statements begin the process of becoming the check and balance to executive authority we’ve long been missing.