Shut Up Already!

So this is how Colin Powell lives out the tatters of a life after four years of sycophancy at the footstool of King George:

"I see absolutely nothing wrong with the president authorizing these kinds of actions," Powell told ABC television Sunday after revelations last week that Bush authorized the National Security Agency to intercept communications by Americans with no approval from a special foreign intelligence court.

"The president made a determination that he had sufficient authority from the Congress to do this in the way that he did it, without getting warrants from the courts or reporting to the courts after doing it," Powell said.

Firstly, to say the president made a determination presupposes he is capable of complex thought. See, here he would have had to remember several things at once: The Constitution prohibits warrantless intrusion into citizens homes, he was being asked to intrude into people's homes without a warrant, and he swore an oath (on a family bible!) to uphold the Constitution. Call me a pessimist, but I don't believe for a minute the man thinks like that.

Secondly, Colin: shut the fuck up. You failed in your duties. You failed in your solemn duty. You failed the American people. Here was your oath, asshole:

The Oath of Office for the Vice President, Secretary of State, and other federal employees is as follows:

"I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."

And try the Fourth Amendment while you're at it.

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Can't you just go away?