Carter Authorized Warrantless Electronic Surveillance

Former President Carter, lately critical of President Bush over the electronic surveillance issue has once again caused himself more embarrassment than to the object of his innuendo. Here he is casting aspersions like rocks in a glass house.

"Under the Bush administration, there's been a disgraceful and illegal decision -- we're not going to the let the judges or the Congress or anyone else know that we're spying on the American people," Mr. Carter said Monday in Nevada when his son Jack announced his Senate campaign.

"And no one knows how many innocent Americans have had their privacy violated under this secret act," he said.

The next day at Mrs. King's high-profile funeral, Mr. Carter evoked a comparison to the Bush policy when referring to the "secret government wiretapping" of civil rights leader Martin Luther King.

Pretty serious talk Mr. Carter. One would hope that the lock is firm on that closet with the skeletons in it. OOPS!

But in 1977, Mr. Carter and his attorney general, Griffin B. Bell, authorized warrantless electronic surveillance used in the conviction of two men for spying on behalf of Vietnam.

The men, Truong Dinh Hung and Ronald Louis Humphrey, challenged their espionage convictions to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, which unanimously ruled that the warrantless searches did not violate the men's rights.

In its opinion, the court said the executive branch has the "inherent authority" to wiretap enemies such as terror plotters and is excused from obtaining warrants when surveillance is "conducted 'primarily' for foreign intelligence reasons."

President Carter has lost the ability to speak out loud in public without causing himself harm. Someone needs to sit him down and explain the two ears one mouth rule. He was doing so good when he concentrated on building houses for the poor. One of the keys to success is to do what one does best and do it as well as can be done. Pounding nails works much better for Mr. Carter that public speaking.