Bush to World: Well, OK So Maybe We Didn't Mean *Always* and *Only*

Just this past Saturday, as he was drawing his dictatorial line in the sand when it came to the right to wiretap in the War on Terror^TM, President Bush gave us this reassurance in his radio address:

In the weeks following the terrorist attacks on our nation, I authorized the National Security Agency, consistent with U.S. law and the Constitution, to intercept the international communications of people with known links to al Qaeda and related terrorist organizations. Before we intercept these communications, the government must have information that establishes a clear link to these terrorist networks.

George Bush went even farther trying to reassure us that domestic communications were not at issue just two days ago at his press conference:

So, consistent with U.S. law and the Constitution, I authorized the interception of international communications of people with known links to al Qaeda and related terrorist organizations. . .This program has targeted those with known links to al Qaeda. . .

And he said this:

I want to make clear to the people listening that this program is limited in nature to those that are known al Qaeda ties and/or affiliates. . . .these calls are not intercepted within the country. They are from outside the country to in the country, or vice versa.

And, just in case it was not clear from President Bush (who continues to struggle with English), General Michael Hayden was sent out as clean up batter to make it crystal clear:

I can assure you, by the physics of the intercept, by how we actually conduct our activities, that one end of these communications are always outside the United States.

Fortunately, the truth did not take long to come out:

A surveillance program approved by President Bush to eavesdrop without court warrants has captured what are purely domestic communications in some cases, despite a requirement by the White House that one end of the intercepted conversations take place on foreign soil, officials say.

Umm.......Ooops?

(Didn't General Hayden's mama tell him that two words you should avoid like the plague most of the time unless you want to get called out as a liar or simply ignorant are "always" and "never"??)

Now, this is all stuff that George Bush or his surrogates said in the past four days that was proven utterly false in the past four days. We all knew that President Bush was both a liar and a manipulator, when it came to telling the straight truth, but calling him out on it is getting to be like shooting fish in a barrel.

To realize that they are now at the point of nakedly rewriting history trying to defend the indefensible and illegal practice of warrantless spying on Americans, all you have to do is remember what some are claiming that the President told us just last year about there always being a court/order or warrant when the government is talking about wiretapping:

. . . 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.

or even what General Hayden told Congress 5 years ago before the War on Terror even started, if I believe one of my least favorite ex-Congressmen on the face of the earth, that bastion of conservatism, Bob Barr:

If that American person is in the United States of America, I must have a court order before I initiate any collection against him or her.

.

Like I said, fish in a barrel at this point, catching the lies.