To my assertion that President George W. Bush should be granted all the power his heart desires, Paul J. responds with a mild head slap:

I am fully aware that for the Dem’s the NSA phone log story is just another prime opportunity for more Bush bashing and to trump up some reason not to confirm CIA nominee General Hayden.

I am fully aware that this is another big chance for Boxer, Feinstein, Durban, Schumer, Kennedy and Pelosi to do their pathologic little media dance.

But Bush also is part of the problem here. In a government based upon checks and balances, no president should be given to think they have carte blanche authority to play fast and easy with the laws of the land, even in wartime. No president is above the law.

Under Article II of the Constitution the President’s wartime powers are to be “shared” with Congress. President Bush may be sincerely trying to protect national security. I believe this to be the case. But I think he has been clumsy about many of his actions, and certainly not very forthright. Bush has an obligation to work with Congress on these issues, not just inform Congress as to what he's done after the fact, or after they find out.

My concern is not so much about Bush, but with setting a precedent for future presidents who might not be so benevolent or well intended. For some reason the name Hillary Clinton springs to mind. America must continue to maintain its system of checks and balances over governmental power.

As much as I dislike the tactics of the Dem’s, I’m glad they are calling Bush out on this one. In this sense they are doing what the founding fathers wanted them to do which is to act as a check over the system.

The right of citizens to be secure in their "houses, papers, and effects" is one of our most fundamental civil rights - a right the courts have been gradually diminishing. In America we do not fear the “knock on the door” in the dead of night. Our government officials and the police are obligated to follow the law and are held accountable for any abuses.

Given free reign, the tendency is for law enforcement to overstep all bounds. For example, look at all the so called "sting" operations set up by law enforcement officials wherein they are permitted to "create" crimes that would not have otherwise existed without their involvement and then arrest the individuals they have entrapped.

We need to do everything possible and legal to fight the war on terror, this is a given. But we can’t throw out the entire Constitution in the process, circumvent our laws, or give any president unchecked power.