"How did it come to pass that an opposition's measure of a president's foreign policy was all or nothing, success or "failure"? The answer is that the political absolutism now normal in Washington arrived at the moment--Nov. 7, 2000--that our politics subordinated even a war against terror to seizing the office of the presidency." - Daniel Henninger - WSJ 11/18/05
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"the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts." - George Orwell
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Monday, February 13, 2006

Spying Necessary, Democrats Say - wiretaps, domestic spying

Spying Necessary, Democrats Say: "Rep. Jane Harman (Calif.), ranking Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and former Senate majority leader Thomas A. Daschle (S.D.) said Republicans are trying to create a political issue over Democrats' concern on the constitutional questions raised by the spying program."

"Republicans are trying to create a political issue." Why shouldn't it be a political issue, everything step of everything that Bush has done since in office has been made a "political issue," by the obstacle generating, no clue Democrats. Are the Democrats the only ones authorized to make issues political?

Senator Pat "Roberts said he could not remember Democrats raising questions about the program during briefings that, beginning in 2002, were given to the "Gang of Eight." That's because they didn't raise any. Note the response from Jane '"Harman said the briefings she received concerned "the operational details of the program," which she supported. "However," she added, "the briefings were not about the legal underpinnings of the program."'

If the briefings "were not about the legal underpinnings of the program," is she implying that she doesn't multi-task? If that is Harmans defense, it says more about she and her cronies than the program or president. Are we to believe that they had concerns at the time and did not speak up in any way? Is this how little we expect of our leaders, that they don't question or imagine things beyond that moment? Democrats do it all the time. Why don't we consider that perhaps they were comfortable with it and had every intention of bemoaning it if anything was leaked about the program. Better yet, lets get really paranoid and consider whether or not one of the Dems is behind the leak in some way.

Electorally forced into retirement former Senate majority leader Tom "Tommy Boy" "Daschle said he wants the program to continue but maintained that the warrantless wiretapping of calls that came into the United States or calls made overseas, even those involving suspected terrorist sources, violate the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). But do they violate the Constituitional rights of the chief executive? Why concern himself with just FISA? Is that because the NSA program is outside FISA, so that if looked at it from that narrow angle it could be said it the NSA program violates FISA? Way to sneak the neither here, nor there in to the debate Tommy.

 

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