April 11, 2006 by s.z.

The Lesser Limbaugh Explains It All

 In his latest column, David Limbaugh explains that not only was it legal for President Bush to release classified information to the media, it was his duty -- because otherwise he would get the same bad rap as Ken Starr, who is not really a pervert, just a dutiful public servant whose job it was to find out if Monica gave good head.

All of this brings us to the latest trumped-up outrage against the beleaguered President Bush -- that he leaked classified information involving sensitive national security information. But once again, the charge is false. Yes, Bush apparently authorized the public disclosure of certain information, but he first declassified it -- meaning, by definition, it was impossible for him to have illegally leaked it. Plus, he had every justification, and some would argue a duty, to publicize it -- because the public should know the truth about these claims, especially since its support for the war is affected by the "Bush lied" ruse.

This is just like a case I saw on "The People's Court" (or a similar program). It involved a young floozy who was being sued for embezzling the funds of an old guy while he was in the hospital. Her defense was that he had given her power of attorney, meaning, by definition, that it was impossible for her to have stolen his money. Plus, she claimed that she had every justification -- and some would argue a duty -- to spend his money to pay her own bills. After all, her creditors deserved to be paid, and so it was right and just that she do so, especially since it would make it hard for her to continue to administer the old guy's affairs if she was evicted from her apartment and such. So, it was indeed her duty to spend his money for her own purposes.

However, the hottest judge on TV didn't buy this defense, explaining that power of attorney doesn't mean that the agent can do whatever he or she wants with the assets of the principal. In this case, the bimbo was supposed to conduct business on behalf of the old guy, not use his bank account to benefit herself. So, she had to pay back the money she misappropriated. (Of course, the judge had a few words of rebuke for the old guy, mainly that he was a chucklehead for having chosen such an obviously untrustworthy person to be in charge of things for him. We won't get into that part of the analogy right now.)

Similarly, President Bush was authorized to oversee the classified information belonging to this nation, but he was supposed to do it on behalf of the nation, not for personal benefit. (Trying to get people to stop hurting his feelings by saying that he "lied" about the reasons for going to war doesn't exactly qualify as a good reason to declassify secrets.) Information is classified for a reason (usually because disclosing it could imperil intelligence community sources and methods) -- and although President Bush does have the authority to declassify information, using this authority (and possibly burning these sources and methods) in an attempt to bolster support for his policies and boost his approval ratings is, in my opinion, an abuse of his powers -- and is immoral to boot. But I guess we'll have to go to the People's Court to get restitution.
4:21:15 PM