Ah, the moral strength and nobility of our great country, our leaders. Isn't it great to wake up each morning and find one's patriotism renewed, to realize that we're in the hands of great statesmen making wise, courageous decisions?
Aw shucks. You and I both know patriotism is quaint and, speaking of being renewed, the Patriot Act was renewed thanks to the deliberate lies of the US Attorney General.
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales assured lawmakers that the FBI had not abused its potent new terrorism-fighting powers. "There has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse," Gonzales told senators on April 27, 2005.
Six days earlier, the FBI sent Gonzales a copy of a report that said its agents had obtained personal information that they were not entitled to have. It was one of at least half a dozen reports of legal or procedural violations that Gonzales received in the three months before he made his statement to the Senate intelligence committee.
So now a fresh set of administration justifications will begin. Documents will be withheld. Loyal lieutenants will offer rationales for breaking the law and lying to Congress. The perp himself will issue statements that he was "really upset as he learned this" because, of course, he knew nothing about it. Nothing at all.