The Wiretaps Were Illegal... So What?

I think it's time our legions of wireheads faced up to a harsh reality.

When the Bush Administration is found to have used its illegal wiretap capability on journalists and political opponents— no, Redstate, I don't want to hear it: when not if... WHEN— you need to be ready for the response from conservatarian supporters of the President.

Wiretaps on journalists and political opponents is perfectly acceptable to these people. Illegal wiretaps on journalists and political opponents is a necessary tool in the President's kit for protecting the American people from terrorism. The only reason they're illegal is that enemies of the American people have so far kept the Congress from giving the President the powers he needs to keep us safe. The very fact the wiretaps were illegal just goes to show how necessary they were to our security.

Here's how we beat these people at this game. Use satire to criticize President Bill Clinton for not violating the law when he was President. I'm sure we can come up with a long list of wonderful examples where Bubba could have exercised his constitutional authority as the Commander In Chief of the Republic to circumvent the procedures of the law to make Americans safer from the threat of domestic terrorists in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing.

Why, if Bush had been President when Timothy McVeigh struck the Murrah building, all those terrorists in the Militia Movement would have been smoked out of their caves, captured like Osama bin Laden and put on trial like Uday and Qusay Hussein. Instead, look at what happened on 9/11! NEVER FORGET!

UPDATE 1.0: Atrios is asking the question answered in this post. I don't think he's ready to believe it yet, but it probably won't be very long before we'll have a definitive answer.