George W. Bush "Disgraceful," Says George W. Bush

In his latest attempt to further cow the press, Bush blasted the NY Times as "disgraceful" for printing their recent story about the US government tracking the finances of suspected terrorists.

Disgraceful.

Well, guess who was the first person to tell us that our government would be tracking the finances of terrorists and suspected terrorists*?

That's right. It was George W. Bush.

Just a few days after September 11, 2001, Bush addressed the country and the Congress in this speech, the "With us or with th' terra-ists" speech.

What did he say? Read on:

Americans are asking: How will we fight and win this war? We will direct every resource at our command -- every means of diplomacy, every tool of intelligence, every instrument of law enforcement, every financial influence, and every necessary weapon of war -- to the disruption and to the defeat of the global terror network.

--snip--

Our response involves far more than instant retaliation and isolated strikes. Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign, unlike any other we have ever seen. It may include dramatic strikes, visible on TV, and covert operations, secret even in success. We will starve terrorists of funding, turn them one against another, drive them from place to place, until there is no refuge or no rest.

That's right. Bush told us that we'd be tracking financial records to try to find terrorists. This shit would hardly be a state secret, even if he hadn't said so. How'd the government nab Al Capone? Income tax evasion. Not murder, not bootlegging, not any of the strongarm shit that Capone was famous for (and good at). They tracked his money, and busted his ass. If I remember my history correctly, Kevin Costner was instrumental in bringing Capone to justice.

So cut the bullshit already, Bush. You're calling out the NY Times for reporting on a program that everyone assumed existed. They just filled in a few details that one could easily have imagined. Same with the wiretapping shit a few months ago. We all know who's "disgraceful" here.

*Oh, yeah, in case you'd forgotten--"suspected terrorists" is a category that is broad enough to include anyone. Especially you.

UPDATE: Glenn Greenwald, of course, has more and better stuff along these same lines. So go check it out.