Foxfyre wrote:Walter Hinteler wrote:Foxfyre wrote:The law is quite specific that ANY mail, parcels, packages, or other coming into the the United States from elsewhere is subject to customs and/or security inspections and yes, that means the government can open First Class mail. Which is exactly what the President said if you put his remarks into an honest context.
Soi it's only foreign mail etc and nothing domestic.
I am not positive, but I think if there is reason to suspect something sinister (like a letter bomb) is in Domestic mail, they can open that too, but they would have to have legitimate cause. I think they can get a warrant to intercept illegal activity as it is illegal to conduct certain activities through the mail. They can't open it just to read what somebody has written without such cause. They can also open undeliverable mail to see if they can figure out some way to deliver it.
We don't have to rely on another round of "I think"s and he-said-she-said statements in press articles. Why don't we just look at the signing statement in question, wich is only a Google search away?
Here is the relevant excerpt of Mr. Bush's signing statement:
The executive branch shall construe subsection 404(c) of title 39, as enacted by subsection 1010(e) of the Act, which provides for opening of an item of a class of mail otherwise sealed against inspection, in a manner consistent, to the maximum extent permissible, with the need to conduct searches in exigent circumstances, such as to protect human life and safety against hazardous materials, and the need for physical searches specifically authorized by law for foreign intelligence collection.
Source
This paragraph of the signing statement refers to the following section in the "Postal accountability and enhancement act":
`(c) The Postal Service shall maintain one or more classes of mail for the transmission of letters sealed against inspection. The rate for each such class shall be uniform throughout the United States, its territories, and possessions. One such class shall provide for the most expeditious handling and transportation afforded mail matter by the Postal Service. No letter of such a class of domestic origin shall be opened except under authority of a search warrant authorized by law, or by an officer or employee of the Postal Service for the sole purpose of determining an address at which the letter can be delivered, or pursuant to the authorization of the addressee.'.
Source
Note that the bill does not contain an exception for Foxfyre's ticking time bomb. It looks to me as if George Bush is simply asserting that this exception continues to exist. This is consistent with existing constitutional law. Nothing sinister seems to be going on in this case.
Foxfyre wrote:Would you say that your mind is not made up?
I would reserve judgment on this issue. I would also point out the possibility that if something doesn't change my mind
maybe my mind wasn't made up; maybe the something just wasn't all that persuasive.
Foxfyre wrote:Not top secret at all. I would imagine its all pretty well spelled out in the postal regulations.
I know. I was parodizing earlier Bush administration rhetoric, in a spirit called irony.
(I actually bristled just a bit when I read your own brand of parody humor even with the smiley face. So I understand the irritation factor in 'criticism cloaked in humor' targeted at policy, etc. etc. etc. We conservatives are capable of empathy. 