The Bush-Rove Administration is responding to the wiretapping scandal in their typical superficial way. Of course, they've already lied repeatedly about the law, their actions and the positions of their critics. That's so deeply embedded in their habits, it's part of their DNA.
But another habit for them is to try and rename the issue and force the lapdog press to adapt their Orwellian labels. We saw it when they tried to privatize Social Security and tried to call it "personal accounts."
Now, they want to rename the domestic wiretapping scandal and refer to it as the "terrorist surveillance program." This comes at the same time that Rove promises to, once again, shamelessly politicize national security for mid-term elections.
Well, let's be reasonable and accept part of their renaming. Let's accept the "surveillance" part, and make the rest more accurate. It's not the "terrorist surveillance program," it's the Citizen Surveillance Scandal!
This label has the benefit of focusing on the parts that we disagree on. Republicans and Democrats agree on the need to spy on terrorists. That's not the issue and it's dishoinest of Karl Rove to say as much. The problem is
Republicans want to give an all-powerful President the power to spy on Americans.
And, that, my friends, is the core of our disagreement. And when we cast this issue accurately, as the Citizen Surveillance Scandal, it gives us the power to use their Orwellian label, and pivot back to the core issue, forcing the Republicans to defend warrantless citizen spying and focusing on the area of disagreement.
It also allows us to quickly highlight the lie thrown out by Karl Rove and Republicans, that Democrats don't' want to protect America by spying on terrorists. Plus, it highlights the creepiness of Bush's domestic spying program.
Once, again, that's the Citizen Surveillance Scandal.