General Reveals Shaky Grip on 4th Amendment

General Michael Hayden, the Office of National Intelligence's deputy director of National Intelligence, the redundancy is a sign of things to come, was asked a very important question:

QUESTION: Jonathan Landay with Knight Ridder. I'd like to stay on the same issue, and that had to do with the standard by which you use to target your wiretaps. I'm no lawyer, but my understanding is that the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution specifies that you must have probable cause to be able to do a search that does not violate an American's right against unlawful searches and seizures. Do you use --

GEN. HAYDEN: No, actually -- the Fourth Amendment actually protects all of us against unreasonable search and seizure.

QUESTION: But the --

GEN. HAYDEN: That's what it says.

QUESTION: But the measure is probable cause, I believe.

GEN. HAYDEN: The amendment says unreasonable search and seizure.

QUESTION: But does it not say probable --

GEN. HAYDEN: No. The amendment says --

QUESTION: The court standard, the legal standard --

GEN. HAYDEN: -- unreasonable search and seizure (Philadelphia Inquirer).

If this does not chill you to the bone, then perhaps I should remind you, and Gen Hayden what the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution actually says:

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Could someone please send them a copy of the Constitution? Or better yet, could someone enforce it? The Constitution can only be changed by amendment. Neither the courts, the congress, nor a president who thinks he's an emperor can change it by will. There is a process and it must be followed.