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CBS NEWS DISTORTS POLL RESULTS, SAYS BUSH NEED NOT FOLLOW LAW IN SURVEILLANCE In a report from the White House regarding the president's response to criticism from the public, from Congress and from legal and national security experts that his warrantless wiretaps are illegal, CBS White House correspondent John Roberts falsely cites a recent poll to claim Bush has broad support from the public for warrantless wiretaps. Citing a recent CBS/New York Times poll, Roberts claimed it "found 61 percent of Americans believe the eavesdropping is meant to fight terror, and the majority support that." He did not specify that the poll's findings refer to the opinion of a limited number of repsondents or that the percentages for and against were within the margin of error, and he did not distinguish between support for measures "to fight terrorism" and support for eavesdropping on American citizens without evidence or judicial warrant. Roberts went on to make the assertion that the president likely will not follow "rules" made by Congress in the form of laws restricting his power to spy on Americans. MediaMatters cites the reporter as saying: "Even if Congress were to write new laws, the larger question is: Would President Bush feel obligated to conduct the eavesdropping only under those rules? From a legal standpoint, not likely. But if Congress gives him everything he needs, political pressures may dictate that he has to." This is a more than problematic paragraph, demonstrating both lack of interest in the central facts of the report and lack of understanding about the salient principle of American government: checks and balances on the exertion of power under the rule of law. Roberts' report suggests without citing any legal basis for the wiretaps that "from a legal standpoint" the president need not conduct surveillance "only under those rules" laid down by Congress. The problem with this language is that "those rules" would be law, and the president does not, under any circumstances, have the power to violate or circumvent the rule of law. There are other major problems with the nature of the analysis given by Roberts on the CBS News broadcast. First, that Roberts also suggests that the issue of the legality of the domestic spying program depends somehow on public opinion. It does not. The program either has the support of law or does not; it is either a crime or it is not. Second, the CBS News correspondent makes the bizarre claim that "political pressures may dictate that [Bush] has to" follow the law only "if Congress gives him everything he needs". This places the right to legislate in the hands of the president, which the Constitution plainly does not do. In simple fact, if Congress passes a law, and the president signs it, the president is beholden to all the constraints on his power inherent in that and any other law, regardless of his preferences, his opinions or public mood. The ultimate responsibility of the media, the "press" whose freedom is protected by the First Amendment, is to deliver truthful reports about events and issues, and to take a watchdog view of government, on behalf of the public. This particular report by CBS correspondent John Roberts was much closer to an advertisement for the White House position regarding actions which appear not to have a sound basis in law. Roberts' reporting does not appear to be intentionally devoted to lobbying on behalf of the White House, but rather seems tainted by a misunderstanding of the central elements of the report itself and a general lack of clarity about the actual meaning of the words and phrasing chosen. It is, in any circumstance, unethical for any journalist to prop up reporting not based in fact with arguments designed to undermine the central importance of the separation of powers made law by the US Constitution or by downplaying the obligation of any party to abide by the rule of law, which gives that journalist the right to speak in the public arena without censorship. The nature of American government is a basic factual element of any political or legal reporting on the activities of any part of the American government. The US Constitution states unequivocally: "All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives." No power to make law is granted to the president or to any member of the executive. And Congress is empowered to remove executive officials for committing crimes against the rule of law. Neither public opinion, nor an artful rendering of the results of one public opinion poll, nor the opinions of the executive branch change this. [s]
BACKGROUND ON PRESS LIBERTIES: In a high-level Communist party meeting, China's president Hu Jintao has reportedly called for an intensive crackdown on media liberties. While China's government has sought to project an image of a more market-oriented, open system, it continues to forbid basic press freedoms and still persecutes journalists at an alarming rate. [Full Story]
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