A republic is "a government of laws and not of men."

Those words were written by John Adams. Some seem to have forgotten them, if they ever knew what they meant in the first place.

In the last few days, we've learned, definitively, that the President of the United States, George W. Bush, has ordered his subordinates to break the law. He repeatedly and knowingly ordered employees of the National Security Agency to spy on American citizens without a warrant, and in the process, commit felonies.

Some, including a few congressmen, are actually praising the President, evidently believing that he should be able to do anything he wishes in the name of "fighting terrorism". To most of the rest of us (thankfully, virtually everyone), the idea that the President can simply ignore the laws he doesn't like and justify it on national security grounds goes against the most basic of American values, and represents a grave threat to our democracy.

The most damning aspect of the whole affair is that the law violated (the Foreign Intelligence Survelliance Act) contains provisions specifically allowing for emergencies. Should an emergency situation arise that calls for immediate response, the Attorney General can authorize such survelliance as is necessary in the short term, so long as a warrant is then sought after the emergency has passed. In other words, there literally is no excuse for what the President did.

FISA exists for a reason: it prevents the kinds of abuses that have already taken place in our history. The intelligence and law enforcement apparatus of this country have tremendous power, and have been used in the past to intimidate and punish political opponents. What's more, the power of search and seizure and to violate the privacy of Americans without due process is unconstitutional. FISA is an important cornerstone for keeping dangerous power in check.

I can envision only two reasons why Mr. Bush would have taken the actions he did. The first was a blatant and flagrant and arrogant disdain for following the law, and hence, fulfilling his oath of office. The second is that the spying that was done really had nothing to do with terrorism at all.

Neither scenario exhonerates the President; in fact, both condemn him.

Under any theory of government, under any set of American values that can truly be called such, the President has committed an impeachible offense, and should resign or be removed. Should Congress fail to carry out its duty in this, any and all members that so fail should also be removed.

Those government employees who carried out the orders should be held accountable in a court of law, and a full and proper and public investigation into what went on should commence immediately.

This is truly a crisis: we have a President who feels he is above the law. Either he is shown the error of his ways, or we are no longer a Democracy; we are a dictatorship.