Bill Moyers Journal: Preview Goldsmith's THE TERROR PRESIDENCY

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Preview Goldsmith's THE TERROR PRESIDENCY

As former head of the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice, Jack Goldsmith was responsible for advising President Bush on what he could and could not do legally. In his interview with Bill Moyers, Goldsmith spoke of the extreme pressure on the Administration which, says Goldsmith, pushed the limits of the law to be as aggressive as possible in fighting terrorism.

Goldsmith says of Vice President Cheney's longtime legal counsel and current Chief of Staff:

David Addington once said to me, he was the Vice President's counsel, when I advised that I didn't think something they wanted to do was lawful, he once said to me, "If you rule that way, then you will have the blood of 100,000 people who die in the next attack on your hands."

Towing this line between doing all possible in the fight against terrorism while keeping with the limits of the law is the subject of Goldsmith's new book, THE TERROR PRESIDENCY. Read and excerpt from THE TERROR PRESIDENCY and comment below.

*Special thanks to W. W. Norton & Company.

Photo: Robin Holland

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(Sept 28, 2007 1:03am) Janice Pound was up late writing about U.S. Imperialism, and how disastrous it has become for us after the Peace Dividend of the 90s. When I get feeling down I go back and read old posts by these astute bloggers, almost like going back to grad school. If 9/11 was not a false flag attack it was a set-up or at least a prayed for event, for a conspiracy bent on undermining what little democracy we had left. (Clinton was a better corporate Republican President than Daddio Bush, and now they's in big business together.) The main effect has been fear, not of ARAB MUSLIM TERRORISTS, but of what kind of sadistic faschism would evolve from the terror driven cabal here at home. In July 2007 when a virus obliterated my hardrive in microseconds, both I and my geek just assumed the NSA got its beak in there. There's fear of what corporate government will do to us or deny us because we have spoken out., even here on this nearly harmless blog board. The best thing has been that there are people on the other side of the proposition who realize something is wrong, and...

Posted by: Jack Martin | January 31, 2008 4:04 PM

When the Democratic President arrives, here are just a few tasks that need to be accomplished: 1. Withdraw the State of Emergency declaration 2. Remove all troops from Iraq and request, obtain and sign a Congressional declaration of the cessation of war in Iraq 3. Extradite to the Hague for War Crimes prosecution the following, among others: Bush, Cheney, Addington, Gonzales, Goldsmith, Yoo, Bybee, Rice, Powell, and the rest of the torture sponsors 4. Close GITMO, release all prisoners, and cancel the lease, returning GITMO to Cuba 5. Pardon Padilla and all others convicted by Bush Department of Justice based directly or indirectly on torture of defendant or others 6. Remove and replace all sitting U.S. Attorneys 7. Remove and replace all Department of Justice lawyers 8. Repeal all terror related laws enacted under Bush (Patriot Act, NSA surveillance, FISA amendments, etc., etc.) 9. Retract all legal advice given by OLC during Bush years etc., etc., etc. . . . . Are you beginning to see how much work it is going to take to undo the Bush tyranny's assault on the Constitution and the rule of law?

Posted by: Simple Lawyer | January 29, 2008 2:03 PM

The President says he saw the first 911 impact on TV while he was in the hallway of an elementary school in Florida, waiting for the cue that would televise his visit live across America... The scheduled telecast went ahead during which Andy Card, one of the Presidents staff, told him another jet had slammed into the WTC. None of the networks broadcast the first air strike live, which means the President's own people must have provided the link. Until this matter is sorted out the Bush Presidency can have no credibility.

Posted by: Martin Timothy | October 19, 2007 6:00 AM

As a graduate structural engineer, I urge to all to go to the site: http://www.ae911truth.org/ Our government's operatives created 9/11 as the "New Pearl Harbor" so we could go into the Mideast (The Project for the New American Century had targeted Iraq before Bush was in office) to defend access to the oil that we so desperately need.

Posted by: Dennis Fischer | October 18, 2007 2:01 PM

Michael: Note, that at the end of each post there is a faint line and the name of the contributor under neith it. The name does not apear before the post. I acutally post the paragraph you resoponded to.

Posted by: MLM | September 29, 2007 9:21 PM

What went wrong in the system to allow my comments of 9/27 to be attributed to MLM? Janice, I think Goldsmith's comments are both a justification for civil rights violations and terrifying at the same time. And I agree with you that it is a disgusting manipulation of the law.

Posted by: Michael Cushion | September 28, 2007 9:29 AM

About a year or so ago Iwrote a letter to a news editor showing Bush's invasion of Iraq for oil mirroredthe Conquisidors invasion of Peru for gold. Spain eventually went bankrupt. We are now at that point. We have become the divided states of America. The 3 branches of the U.S. gov't have become one unit with an intellectually challenged occupent in the W.H.. All have been bought,paid for, and controlled by corporativ America. In 2000 this country and others were ready to to deal with each other thru dialogue. Weapons were supposed to be decreased via the nuclear proliferation treaty. There's a world of people out there that are quite knowledgeable about other countries and their affairs and activities,proving we were heading towards globelization. By the Republican party committing many voting crimes we inherited a wanna-be dictator.With the many national crimes committed by Bush and his gov't against Democracy, wars, and war crimes , we have become one of those countries whose internal activities we used to abhor. The U.N. had made almost 400 inspections in Iraq since the Gulf war with neg results,thats why they did not sanction it. Amazing how congress apparently was not aware of this,stating...

Posted by: Janice Pound | September 28, 2007 1:03 AM

Interesting how different minds interpret things so differently. I found Mr. Goldsmiths description of the administration acting out of fear to be most terrifying rather than a justification for the violation of civil-rights. I was disgusted by the description of how calculatedly they manipulated the law of this land to find or create loop-holes in the constitution they are sworn to uphold. Where are the statesmen who can rise up and say “the only thing we have the fear is fear itself.” This is truer today than it ever was. How different the world be today if the US had rallied the momentum of international support after 9/11 to work together to find a REAL solution to the paranoid, irrational anger of the terrorist. Beating already angry men to a pulp with a big stick is devoid of logic. This is no way to spread Democracy. Why have I turned about face from support to opposition of the administration? For the very thing that Godsmiths describes. This administration has turned to fear mongering. No matter what the issue terrorism, social security, immigration, healthcare…there is a stong element fear in the rhetoric that seeks to demonize those in opposition. These are...

Posted by: MLM | September 27, 2007 1:39 PM

I was really conflicted listening to the interview with Jack Goldsmith. He is quite convincing when he states the civil rights-violating actions of the Bush administration were motivated by a real fear of additional terrorist attacks in the U.S. and a sincere belief that the procedures put in place were needed to prevent those attacks. My conflict comes in trying to square that sincere statement with all of the other politically-motivated actions of the administration, keeping in mind former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill's comment that everything in the White House was driven by the political wing. Is anti-terror the exception or is Goldsmith naive to the political motivations? I'd like to believe the sincerity of administration to protect the country, but my distrust of the administration is too great, especially in light of all the things they have not done to protect against atttack such as screening incoming container ships and protecting chemical and nuclear sites. In this I agree with tpoole that terror has been used as a political tool. I don't agree with those who say Goldsmith shouldn't have been given air time. However, I do think he could have been challenged more.

Posted by: Michael Cushion | September 27, 2007 8:55 AM

Just follow the dollar! War by the US is making more billionairs for us than anything else in the world. We are safe as long as other nations feel safe in buying our government bonds so that we can keep our wars active.

Posted by: Juklia B. Alfonso | September 24, 2007 1:07 AM

Could someone explain these things? Why did the European Union find WMDs? Why did they watch as Syria tested them in Sudan during the summer of 2004? Why did Libya admit to many tons of WMDs materials in 2004? Some of these may require a registration, which is not malicious, but allows you to access their web sites. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Syria's recent testing of chemical weapons http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/106666/1/.html +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ European Union versus Syria over chemical weapon WMDs? http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?node=admin/registration/register&destination=register&nextstep=gather&application=reg30-nation&applicationURL=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59724-2004Apr7.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A59724-2004Apr7?language=printer http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L28606670.htm (just how did Syria get chemical weapons to begin with?) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Al Qaeda's poison gas in Jordan (next to Iraq -- western border): http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110005016 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/22/AR2005062202501_pf.html +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Moving banned items across the border http://washingtontimes.com/national/20040816-011235-4438r.htm +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Iraqi Engines in Jordan? http://daily.webshots.com/content/ap/current/h52393407.html +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ UN's own report on things leaving Iraq: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/10/international/middleeast/10nati.html Printer-friendly http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/10/international/middleeast/10nati.html?pagewanted=print&position= http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,158470,00.html +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Europeans' admission to uranium claim: http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1087373295002&p=1012571727092 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Uranium in Iraq: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/07/politics/07NUKE.html printer friendly: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60910FB3F5F0C748CDDAE0894DC404482 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dutch role in nuclear deals with countries such as Libya (and the article mentions Iraq) http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?channel_id=2&story_id=4878 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ CIA recruited Saddam's foreign minister http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=UVDDPCMUIOQZJQFIQMGSFFWAVCBQWIV0?xml=/news/2006/03/22/wirq22.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/03/22/ixworld.html (what's this about chemical WMD stuff?) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Sarin WMD warheads: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,124576,00.html +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Al Qaeda and Iraq: http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.169852178&par=0# http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5326544/ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7369892/site/newsweek/ http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,1-1167096,00.html http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD91205 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Syria and nuclear scientists http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/09/26/wiran26.xml&sSheet=/portal/2004/09/26/ixportaltop.html +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1998 article from Bulletin...

Posted by: Kathy Schmidt | September 22, 2007 10:54 PM

To discuss the Bush presidency on Constitutional grounds or on any other scholarly basis, legitimizes the absurdity of the reign of an unqualified, ignorant, and simply dangerous man. I was recently told that more people voted for the "American Idol" than in the last presidential election. Is it any wonder that we have a psychopath (perhaps 2) in the White House?

Posted by: Paul Calhoun | September 17, 2007 9:09 PM

Jack Goldsmith suffered a momentary twinge as he observed Jose Padilla in a fetal poition on his steel bunk in the Charleston naval brig. Perhaps he was harshly treated, Goldsmith avers, and for that reason Goldsmith's malleable conscience is tweaked. But Goldsmith is untroubled by Padilla's being whereever the Bush administration chooses to put him; there is precedent in this country's incarceration of a hundred thousand Axis prisoners during our part of World War Two. Goldsmith got it wrong, and Bill failed to nail him on it. No one contests the right of a belligerent to hold members of the enemy's armed forces as prisoners of war for the duration of the conflict. But, as the Geneva Conventions make clear, the prisoner has a right to have his status determined by competent tribunal. He is entitled to protection from questioning about anything apart from his name, rank, and serial number. His personal possessions are sacrosanct. He may not be subjected to either mental or physical torture, as Padilla was for three years and more. He may not be held in a penitentiary setting, by which the Convention's signers meant that he is entitled to air and sunlight and free movement...

Posted by: Alan Bickley | September 16, 2007 4:57 PM

Oil is our life. Without it we die.

Posted by: Eric Swan | September 15, 2007 2:05 AM

For the sake of the world I hope america will spend a little more time choosing a new president perhaps a (time out) from being just a spectator of sports in this on going political. America needs some proactive votes for a true democracy. This president acted on pure misdirected revenge. He nailed the wrong guy and expects the world to believe him. We need to be rid of all the programs Bush passed under the table.

Posted by: gary alan brumley | September 14, 2007 12:47 PM

Is it not more likely that the "fear" driving the Bush Administration to grab excessive executive power is not based on a fear for American lives, but rather, on a fear of appearing unable to deal with the terrorist crisis? They would not be the first organization to succumb to such fears without recognizing what the real issue was.

Posted by: Lyle Ross | September 14, 2007 12:42 PM

How can it be that this "Bungler(& WORSE)-in-Chief is still encouraged (by most Republicans) to continue leading this country into obscene debt, death, destruction, and despair. Sounds more like he's doing Bin Laden's Will not God's. (Someone said they played together as rich oil men's children. Is that true? He allowed Bin Laden's family and friends to leave the country quietly after 9/11 and called off the search for him in favor of Saddam who had nothing to do with 9/11. I'm not a conspiracy theorist but sounds somewhat unpatriotic to me.) He's damaged the USA's reputation all over the world and made Iraq into a terrorist training camp making our nation more unsafe. What's the point? -to establish what will surely be a theocratic government finally? Really scare-y stuff. "A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury.....signifying nothing."

Posted by: bertha fitton | September 14, 2007 11:28 AM

Isn't it "toe the line" and not 'tow'? /just saying

Posted by: be.rock | September 13, 2007 6:50 PM

Sorry to double comment. Regarding comments as to whether or not this is a real war - of course it's not. Real wars have drafts. IF THERE WERE A DRAFT, there wouldn't be a war (people would have thought with their brains - not their gas tanks). No war without sacrifice. Me? You? It's just a show on television. Unless of course you're one of the enlisted folk who've lost a limb, a loved one, a life. Otherwise it's war "Over There", iPods "Over Here".....

Posted by: Joe E | September 10, 2007 11:12 PM

I've never bothered to post before but this was absurd. First: highlighting Addington's quote without ever qualifying it was irresponsible. Second: having stated the importance of executive power, there's no exploration of the need for checks and balances. It's referred to as a "dangerous place". This may be a long standing open constitutional debate, but it was an opening to counter an obviously pigeon holed theory of the executive. This was painful to watch. Worse than Charlie Rose!!!

Posted by: Joe E | September 10, 2007 10:57 PM

mark mcc good point if your a moron, if bush were a democrat i guess it would be allright if we stayed on the defensive. and by the way maybe bush would be getting a blow job while we were waiting on the nexr attack...don't be stupid bush will be gone soon and you have another chance to elect the best person for the job...

Posted by: tpoole | September 10, 2007 10:24 PM

Dear Mr. Moyers, I am shocked, disappointed and slightly disgusted by your interview with Jack Goldsmith. Mr. Goldsmith is articulate, persuasive and appeals with a demeanor or calm and reason. None of which makes the sludge spewing from his mouth veracious. Like lambs inviting the wolf into their fold, your estimable program has leant a cloak of legitimacy to Mr. Goldsmith's sophistry. I particularly take issue with his assertion that what the Bush administration has done to Mr. Jose Padilla was "legal [but perhaps not prudent]". I respectfully disagree with his subversive statement. What was done to Mr. Jose Padilla was not only imprudent, it was illegal and done for political gain to foster an climate of fear that Goldsmith purports dominated clear thinking in the government. The foundation of our Constitution is built on certain inalienable rights that prevent a miscarriage of justice. It is not legal to hold a US citizen indefinitely with neither counsel, nor trial nor ability to repudiate allegations. It is not legal, nor American to torture and destroy the mind of a human being. It is vile and beastly. Even the Rosenbergs, with a nation caught in throes of anti-communist fervor were given a...

Posted by: Jade | September 10, 2007 11:58 AM

"Blood of one hundred thousand". Such a baseless threat, I'm surprised that an intelligent man like Goldsmith would buy into it. He should rather have thought about the blood of the potential thousands subjected to inhumane interrogation techniques. It is well established that intelligence extracted under torture is usually inaccurate and unreliable. And suspending Habeus Corpus is an extraordinary power which should never be exercised in any but the most serious of circumstances, and a trumped up perpetual war is not an adequate excuse. This 'war' that Bush relies upon as justification for his excesses, is nothing more than a protracted Occupation of a sovereign nation fighting those who would see their country liberated from the foreign occupiers. Al Qaeda is no more an international threat than is the mafia or any other organized crime syndicate. Maybe Al Qaeda's greatest mistake is not paying off government officials, or in not hiring a lobbyist to promote their interests in Washington. I am seeing a great country crippled by a political crisis, ruled by a president who would rather be king, aching to exercise the powers held by dictators in third world countries. Would that Bush could create a secret service which...

Posted by: Mark McC | September 10, 2007 3:05 AM

Good point. ARE we really at War? And if so, ARE we still at war? Did not Bush himself declare victory early on? Just what is it we are into? Reconstruction? Is not the War on Terror just a metaphorical term for an ongoing struggle like the War on Drugs? This really is not, and must not become term for a literal Military War because there is no country called Al Qaeda. If this is a Military War and Al Queda is spread out across the Globe…does this mean we are justified in attacking any country we choose … would not a better term for such a War be WWIII? To say that the War on Terror is a literal war, and not a metaphorical term is just that insane. And, using it to justify extending the expanded military power of the Executive branch indefinitely is just that insane. If Bush were a democrat he would already have been crucified. Isn't it interesting how congress will jump on any sexual impropriety, but really important issues like upsetting the balance of power of the entire government just slips by? I really do not get it?

Posted by: MLM | September 9, 2007 9:57 PM

It's been two days, and I can't find anything to support, Mr. Goldsmith's statement that:'Congress and the Courts' agree that we are at War. The Congress gave Bush a limited resolution, Authorizing the Use of Military Force, with specific caviots, such as Bush submit a letter to Congress 'that Sadam Hussian had WMD's,'. Would the recently admitted statement that Bush KNEW they didn't exist in 02' pre-invasion, constitute in writting a False Statement to Congress! Called Perjury!

Posted by: AndieG | September 9, 2007 6:00 PM

I am appalled at the disregard and re-inventing of the Constitution that is being orchestrated by the current administration. What can we do to stop this now before it becomes worse. Could you give direction on what ordinary (no big bucks) citizens can do to stop the madness!!

Posted by: Pam Stinson-Tattersall | September 9, 2007 2:29 PM

I appear to be the only one that was disturbed by the Goldsmith interview. Important caveats announced themselves to me at the beginning of the piece. Mr. Goldsmith was very convincing in conveying the terror experienced by those in power as they were bombarded with threats to be reviewed, but I think the reaction this material produced was a sign of incompetence at the highest level. Yes, these folk are human and such things are scary, but they did not have a right to use that terror as they immediately did, to frighten the American people into following lockstep with whatever they intended to do. So while it may have been a Freudian slip above where you describe this process as 'towing the line' (instead of 'toeing the line') I think you spoke correctly - they DID tow a line, and Mr. Goldsmith is partly responsible for this, just as he was for the horrible condition of Jose Padilla, a condition in which all of us have been deliberately placed ever since 9/11 happened. I respect you very much, Mr. Moyers, but I will not read Mr. Goldsmith's book.

Posted by: Juliania | September 9, 2007 12:50 PM

This president must be the worst one ever. We should not be destroying our mountains. -- WORLD-THREAT RED ALERT! The United States is in imminent danger due to severe internal threats: http://www.ExcaliburBooks.com/RedAlert/

Posted by: Bret | September 9, 2007 1:04 AM

It should be called the Terrorist Presidency. The Iraq attack was a Bush dream from way back when his father was threatened by Saddam. The paranoia in the white house was the fear that the lies and deceit would come back to bite them. They wanted to use the terrorist fear to establish a dictatorship. There was no concern about the welfare of John Doe citizen. They spent billions destroying Iraq and on war profiteers and next to nothing for national defense. More of the same madness in Iraq is going to bury us deeper. We need to give Iraq back to the Iraqis and consolidate our Middle East influence in Afghanistan.

Posted by: David Eddy | September 9, 2007 1:03 AM

I wept when I saw the story about the mountains in West Virginia. But more so for the people of WVA, how courageous they are to take up the fight againt a coal mining company. Just think how great our country could be if we fought as hard against political and government corruption and injustices!

Posted by: Mary Wolterman | September 8, 2007 11:53 PM

Mr Moyers, thank you so much for having jack goldsmith on the heels of The Genius of Impeachment, I can't remember the author. Impeach the bunch of thugs now. Deborah Burns

Posted by: d burns | September 8, 2007 8:34 PM

"Towing this line between doing all possible in the fight against terrorism while keeping with the limits of the law is the subject of Goldsmith's new book...." Granted, I'm being picayune but in the context used, one "toes" a line not "tows".

Posted by: jm | September 8, 2007 7:04 PM

Hurricane Katrina proved that there must be a hidden reason behind the war in Iraq because clearly George W. Bush does not care about protecting or saving the lives of people.

Posted by: Cheryl Cotterill | September 8, 2007 6:52 PM

Get bin Ladin? Now there's an idea! You go Harry Reid. That we are still stuck on the frops' incredibly harmful frolic and detour in Iraq is an outrage. With the benefit of the passage of time and distance from the Fox Republican noise machine and the dispassionate analysis of historians, America over the upcoming decades will realize that Iraq was just another Vietnam. And that we were wasting our blood, money and time there when we should have been using them in the Afghanistan/Pakistan region to get rid of bin Ladin and the al Qaeda that actually threatens America and much of the rest of the world at home. http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a79NQxBSDh4s

Posted by: JD21 | September 8, 2007 6:14 PM

Posted by: Mary Wolterman | September 8, 2007 5:05 PM

After seeing Goldsmith's "The Terror Presidency," I felt compelled to write and say thank God for Bill Moyers and public tv for their courage in telling it like it is without journalistic "spin." This president, you have in America is the biggest threat to World peace and survival we have ever had. His hypocritical blurbs on "freedom" are all about scaring us into thinking that only he can protect us from terror. I am sick of watching American politicians and people continue to allow this kind of traitorous behavior. When is Congress going to impeach this administration for threatening our lives and future existence so that he and his friends can make big bucks? You can't eat dollars. Dollars won't prevent global warming. It's time to remove these materialistic prevaricators and replace them with visionary earth loving leaders.

Posted by: David A. Cox | September 8, 2007 3:42 PM

I can not believe the arrogant disregard for everything and anything that doesn't donate money to the republican party. To destroy the natural world and to poison people and have absolutely no regard for either is the essence of this badministration. The energy companies are in the white house -- can you say Oil? Can you say Iraq? Can you say unbridled greed and mass murderers? No need to say all that. Bush. One word says it all. George W. Bush should be serving a life sentence in the kind of prison they 'render' people to. Along with Dick Cheney. And that is being merciful considering the enormity of their crimes against both man and nature.

Posted by: David Kane | September 8, 2007 2:59 PM

I have been for Bush but after seeing what he has allowed in W. Virginia I am so against him. I am now believing he is not born again in any way. One just doesn't put money and buss. over peoples lives and health like that. One thing this war has done is let us know exactly how much money was and will be available for health care.

Posted by: Carmen Slovak | September 8, 2007 2:45 PM

Your segment on the destruction of the mountain tops in W. Va. was extremely disturbing!!! My prayers are with the folks who live there and my heart goes out to them. Having spent 12 years in the Tn. Smoky Mountains and being involved in the air pollution campaign there I wonder when & where it will end? Pres. Bush claims to be a Chrisitan but seems to have no regard for the sacredness of the lands God created. This also includes the wilderness in Alaska. When I became involved in the clean air campaign in Gatlinburg I was like the folks in W. Va. believing that the higher powers were the only way to feel empowered in this most disheartening time of earth disheaval. It it my sincere wish that our citizens and the government of this beautiful country stop and ponder the consequences of destroying mountains which have been here for millions of years. What could they possibly be thinking except for a brief moment of how much coal can we use up and how fast. More power to the Christian Coalition and may their peaceful resistance resound from the mountain tops.

Posted by: Kate Hughes | September 8, 2007 2:29 PM

What the Bush Administration has done to our Country is nothing less than criminal. Topping the W.Virginia mountains and distroying our planet is a sin. Plundering every naural resouse this county has is a sin. Not following the Constitution and acting as a Monarch is dangerous.

Posted by: Phyllis J. Krystal | September 8, 2007 2:22 PM

This program was not shown in Tucson last night,as it was a PBS pledge week. However, the US mainstream media's complicity in justifying the invasion of Iraq was repeated. Thank you Bill Moyers for acting like an investigative journalist should and must in order to inform and protect our democracy. I read the Preface to Mr. Goldsmith's book and intend to purchase it. I wonder if he quotes Abraham Lincoln's public letter to Erastus Corning and Others of June 12, 1863, justifying his suspension of Habeus Corpus. It was read by millions of Northerners at the height of our Civil War (pre-Gettysburg,pre-Vicksburg), when people had real reasons to fear for the future of our Union.Citizens then actually read newspapers to inform themselves. Amazing, isn't it? And Bush keeps track of what he has (supposedly) read? Camus, really. What did Franklin Roosevelt say about "Fear Itself"? Fear-mongering through appeals to "patriotism" to frighten people (and critics)as a means to an end, really theatens our democratic rights (and wastes trillions of dollars that could be more productively and intelligently spent to protect Americans and address the myriad of domestic problems we face),is self-defeating for a republic. Heaven help us but for clarion-call...

Posted by: Robert Parson | September 8, 2007 11:00 AM

The first two people Bill Moyers interviewed were very clear about how the administration is not following the constitution. I don't think it was necessary for Mr. Moyers to take the opposite point of view to give a veneer of journalistic balance. One reason why the Bush administration has gotten as far as it has is that reporters have provided "balance" when it was completely inappropriate. Bill Moyers, of all people, should not be assisting in this effort.

Posted by: Nance Cunningham | September 8, 2007 5:37 AM

The United States of America is at the end of it's stay as world leader, due mainly to the Bush administration, too bad for you. War over health care, lies over truth. I seem to be able to view these intelligent reports but sadly the mainstream American public still believes FOX or CNN can inform them of the news, which sadly is far from the real world. Andrew Allen Edmonton Alberta Canada

Posted by: Andrew Allen | September 8, 2007 4:22 AM

Make the Federal Government accountable to the people by adding the Citizen Amendments to the United States Constitution and make America Free Again. Get your copy at www.citizenamendments.org Have a good day Tony 100% Citizen of the United States of America

Posted by: Anton Grambihler | September 8, 2007 2:35 AM

The addition of the Citizen Amendments to the United States Constitution is the only way that America will be Free Again. Get your copy at www.citizenamendments.org Have a good day Tony 100% Citizen of the United States of America

Posted by: Anton Grambihler | September 8, 2007 2:06 AM

On the removal of those beatiful mountain tops of W.Va, the people as well as the environment are being sarcifice for the love of money, greed and power. With all the high technically of safer car's, high powe space shuttle, and space station, why aren't there more plans on the table to use the sun, or the wind? It is very sad to hear that President Bush changed the laws in favor of the minding company, to the continuing destruction of W. Va. mountains (which will never be re-placed) and its people health as well as its future.

Posted by: Jerome Gonzales | September 8, 2007 1:43 AM

I just watched Bill Moyer show and i was upset and sickened. The people that have been in power and have ruined our great land should be jailed for their crimes. The list of their lies and crimes are too many and it is too deep to go into. Does anyone in the Bush or Cheney families know the bible or read it or go to Church? These men and their families will some day have to face the Creator ( God , Jesus, Allah , Budda,what ever name you want to start a war for ! ) The light that makes this world, the light that lights the world.. To go into a sick man's hospital room! To ignore what the land is telling you! To posion our children with dirty water. To let our borders open to un-immunized peoples and not to say anything about it! To trade our children's future with lead from China-a faith hating country . AND THESE PEOPLE CALL THEMSELVIES CHRISTIANS SHAME .. WHAT WOULD JESUS DO? READ THE BIBLE AND YOU WILL LEARN ... LUKE

Posted by: Luke | September 8, 2007 12:24 AM

Legal precedent for executive privilege? The lawyers surrounding George W. Bush were easily out-witted by the ruthless leagal team of Richard Cheney commanded by David Addington. Welcome to the Big Leagues! (Gonzalas, Miers) This is not a case about a state health plan in Texas, Harriet, nor a James A. Baker III assignment to research water rights that can be legally purchased around Houston, Alberto... this was sending shamelessly obedient, pencil-pushing lawyers in a Washington way above their heads. The Vice President ,through his legal prowess, ascended to become the most powerful vice-president ever. Once Pandora is out.. she will not just climb back into the box! These new legal precedents will carry on ever for an eternity. Good job , Richard, in finding your own ideas about American Constitutional law to be superior to Thomas Jefferson.

Posted by: Robert Elton | September 8, 2007 12:24 AM

yes, but that would be beneath you, wouldn't it?

Posted by: Pam Kulig | September 8, 2007 12:00 AM

the comment made by Mr. Goldsmith about seeing the prisoner at Gitmo isolated and in a fetal position and his softening to the position that even if it is legal, it isn't right made me think about our own prisons and the children who also are isolated and in fetal positions in adult prisons all over this country. Being subjected to torture and abuse daily. Children as young as 10 are in prison. Teenagers and adolescents are serving LWOP. Maybe he should visit our own prisons and he will say, yes, it's legal, but is it right? Why is it that he felt sorry for the Iraqi prisoners, but has no clue about our own children suffering the same fate in this country? Prisons in this country are filled with children. Many are nothing but gladiator schools and criminal universities, yet we still keep filling them up. Why can't Mr. Goldsmith visit our own prisons? Because no one is allowed in. They are secret and there is no oversight. Maybe he could attempt to watch MSNBC or Court TV to get the lowdown. There is probably more oversite at Gitmo, then a juvenile maximum security prison in America. I'm a...

Posted by: Pam Kulig | September 7, 2007 11:58 PM

I have to admire Mr. Goldsmith's loyality to his party and their president, a quality that many professed members of the Democrat party have no knowledge. However, I find Mr. Goldsmith's interpretations of the White House's thought processes and responses to events following 9/11 a bit hard to swallow. Most of President Bush's advisors where involved in the initial Iraq conflict of the early 1990s while serving in the administration of Bush Senior. It is a documented fact that Paul Wolfowitz authored a detailed attack plan for the conquest of Iraq that was rejected by Bush Senior. These people had been looking for an excuse to dust off and execute this plan for over ten years. They must have been in ecstasy when a second run at the World Trade Center granted them total justification for their war and subsequent power grab.

Posted by: Richard | September 7, 2007 11:22 PM

Just watched the segment on mountain top removal in West Virginia. It made me sick to my stomach. I can't believe the leader of this country would continue to submit these people to such horrible conditions. What is he thinking? Or does he even think?

Posted by: Mary Beth Dimijianq | September 7, 2007 11:13 PM

President Bush should be ashamed for placing his political supporters profits ahead of the health and spiritual needs of real peop;e in West Virginia. Gary Cook gwclac@grandecom.net Dallas, TX

Posted by: Gary Cook | September 7, 2007 11:07 PM

I just saw and heard a replay of "We know they have weapons of mass destruction..". They certainly did, they, members of the Carlisle fund, had sold them to Saddam". Who are the Fund investors? The Cheney-Bush gang, Saudi-Arabia royal family, and England royal family. Curiously, the fund invests in all sort of war material, weapons, etc., and had sold them to Germany during WW2 (and maybe WW1 but I'm not sure of that one). And what are the countries who went to war in Iraq? The USA and England, using Saudi Arabia as a secure landing and as a base from were they marched to Bagdad. This I all read in Eric Laurent's book, "La Guerre des Bush". I figured that war was in that government plan for a long time when, the day after 9/11, the only films on US TV channels were war films showing the good US soldiers against nasty ones from other countries. I also did when I saw Bush on the 9/11 rubble pile with his "porte voix" promoting war. This goverment had carefully planned everything just waiting for (or creating it?) the right occasion to repeat and repeat over and over again that...

Posted by: Lise | September 7, 2007 10:32 PM

I am amazed that any president who is responsible for the whole country could give permission to take the tops off mountains anywhere in the country thus destroying the beauty of nature--President Bush is out of control and endangering our water supply and the country as we know it. Enough!!

Posted by: Shirley Cornell | September 7, 2007 10:30 PM

Thank you, Mr. Moyers, for covering topics and interviewing people on The Journal that give us the critical, essential information mostly not covered by other media. I did hear Mr. Goldsmith interviewed by Terry Gross on NPR, but the informaton about the Massey Co. in W. VA and the residents affected by the contaminated water was totally new. I am horrified that the President has given permission for more drilling. I was especially talken with your commentary concerning the resignation of Carl Rove a few weeks ago. You managed to inflict numerous puncture wounds while using elegant language. The pen is mightier than the sword. Bernice Pollack Cincinnati, Ohio

Posted by: Bernice Pollack | September 7, 2007 10:12 PM

While I consider many of Mr. Goldsmiths views extreme, I do appreciate that he and a few others were the "firewall" between a criminal cabal in the Whitehouse and the gutting of the Rule of Law. It must be ironic to Mr. Goldsmith that most of the power that the Whitehouse usurped, eventually was quickly given them by an acquiescent congress. I think the cynicism and hubris of this administration will be a legacy they will not enjoy as time passes.

Posted by: Keith Gargus | September 7, 2007 9:39 PM

Well, by just reading the excerpt from "The Terror Presidency" and my own life exeriences I can understand how the rules must be bent and adjusted to meet the challenges brought to us from corrupt coercion. For most it is likely that understanding and acceptance will have to wait but, then again let's not underestimate the greatness of this nation and believe that it will work out okay, at least, in the long run. Still we can not afford to place caution to the wind, reacting in an emotional crisis, without a sound mind or direction. I'm glad you have made a point for this to be discovered and discussed.

Posted by: Carol Huss | September 7, 2007 6:17 PM