Citizens of Nevada,

On Saturday, the 17th day of December, in the year, 2005, President George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States of America, admitted on national television, that he and others under his direction (one of which being the NSA) committed the felony (and impeachable crime on part of the President) of spying on Americans -- no less than 30 times (by his own account) without obtaining a warrant issued by a judge giving him the power to conduct this form of covert surveillance, as is required under the laws of our republic. He gave no account of the actual number of individual Americans spyed upon by his illegal order.

A special court (The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court) has been in existence since 1978. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 prescribes procedures for requesting judicial authorization for electronic surveillance and physical search of persons "alleged" to be engaged in espionage or international terrorism against the United States on behalf of a foreign power. The establishment of the FISC was to ensure that the "due process" of our laws are adhered to following the egregious violations of civil liberties in the United States under the Nixon administration.

Requests are adjudicated by a special eleven member court, and I'm told, rarely does the FISC turn down requests for wiretaps on Americans if asked by the NSA. President Bush's unilateral decision to authorize the NSA to spy on Americans circumventing the FISC is a clear violation of the laws of the United States. His public confession that he illegally authorized spying on Americans without a warrant from a judge to do so is a felony under the Federal Communications Act -- his public confession on the 17th of December, 2005 makes his guilt irrefutable.

If I am elected by the citizens of Nevada to be their Governor, I will aggressively investigate this affront to our liberties as they pertain to the state of Nevada. If I find that 'any' citizen of the state of Nevada was spied upon by any member of the Bush administration without a warrant from a judge authorizing it, and they are not charged with a felony by The United States Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales at the federal level (Attorney General Gonzales says no crime was commited) -- I will work with our State Attorney General, to have President George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States, and any other participants operating under his authority to facilitate these crimes, charged with a felony for each violation of our state law -- as it applies to violations of our state laws.

This President, by violating the 4th Amendment, has clearly over-stepped the authority granted him by the Constitution of our republican form of government, thus violating his sworn oath to, [God and America] "to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

The Constitution of our republic grants him no such authority in either times of war or peace, to violate the civil rights of American citizens by spying on them for "whatever" the reason(s) without first obtaining the proper authorization from our judicial branch. President Bush can not obtain this authority (not granted him under the Constitution of the United States) by simply informing a few hand picked members of Congress (the legislative branch) of his illegal actions.

His recent proclamation that our Constitution of the republic is, "just a goddamned piece of paper", makes it clear and self-evident that President George Bush thinks of himself as King George Bush -- and we must answer his violations to our Constitution with voices stentorian by his immediate removal from the office of President of the United States of America.

If the Attorney General and the leadership of both houses of Congress are too, partisan, afraid or participatory to fulfill their sworn duties to protect our republic against, "all enemies, foreign and domestic," then it is the duty of the Governor and State Attorney General in each state where these violations have occurred to step up to the plate and do what needs to be done to protect America from its internal enemies wherever they are discovered.

The Constitution of the United States is not, "just a goddamned piece of paper", it is the law of the land -- and as long as it is the law of the land, it most be adhered to by all. It is every American's duty to protect their country against their government if need be -- we face a Constitution crisis not seen since the days of the Nixon administration, and, "this affair cries haste, and speed must answer it," if we are to remain a nation of laws of which no man or woman can place his or herself above.

Sincerely,

Leola McConnell

Liberal Democrat for Governor of Nevada, 2006

If by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people -- their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties -- someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal." - John F. Kennedy