Feb 01 2006
Traitor Democrat On NSA Terrorist Surveillance
I can only imagine the uproar that is going to hit poor Democrat Governor Tom Vilsack for his traiterous comments on the NSA Terrorist Surveillance program. Governor Vilsack has no idea how the liberal hardcore, which makes up nearly 2/3rds of the self described ‘Democrats’, is going to see his comments
Gov. Tom Vilsack said Monday that Democrats risk political backlash if they object to the Bush administration’s wiretapping but cannot show that Americans’ civil liberties are at risk.
I have said the same thing many times. Unless the left has proof of misuse of the program against US citizens, their cries of ‘Wolf’ are going to degrade their national security image. It was bad enough last night to watch Democrats sit on their hands and not applaud Bush’s promise ‘not to sit back and let ourselves get hit again” (paraphrasing). One can only conclude the Democrats do not see this as all that important. So when they demand we shut down our only real defense against terrorist attack because of some remote possibility that there is a slight chance that maybe it could happen that some potential future infraction may occur – well, we know Al Qaeda is trying to attack us. We don’t have any proof of Bush or the NSA not monitoring terrorists under the Terrorist Surveillance program.
The Democratic governor, who is weighing a 2008 presidential bid, said the party will suffer if it continues to be perceived as weaker than Republicans on national security.
“If the president broke the law, that’s unacceptable. But I think it’s debateable whether he did,” Vilsack told Des Moines Register editors and reporters.
“And I think Democrats are falling into a very, very large political trap,” he said. “Democrats are not going to win elections until they can reassure people they are going to keep them safe.”
And what their stance on this issue only demonstrates is their fear to be bold, and to take risks, and to argue their case. It is lazy and easy to find an excuse not to challenge the norm and do something new and to go after the attackers before they succeed. Where is the leadership in sitting back and waiting to be hit?
Bush has said the practice is limited to people suspected of terrorist ties and is necessary to conduct the war on terrorism.
Emphasis mine. And until someone proves otherwise, the only people who will be protected by stopping the NSA program are those same people ‘suspected of terrorist ties’.
Hat tip: Real Clear Politics
One can only conclude the Democrats do not see this as all that important. So when they demand we shut down our only real defense against terrorist attack because of some remote possibility that there is a slight chance that maybe it could happen that some potential future infraction may occur – well, we know Al Qaeda is trying to attack us.
In all the debate between left and right on national security the left MUST ignore 8 years of Clinton in order for their arguments to partially stand up…yet when 9-11 happened Bush instinctively and wisely choose the “no blame” route, he choose not dwell on the past but make damn sure we changed to meet the new threat and prevent if possible another 9-11 in the future.
This is not to blame Clinton (there were too many variables we didn’t understand and too many Intel change that would have been hard to assume needed changing) but the left NEEDS to act as if time begins with Bush.
Vilsack’s right. The left chose to oppose, therefore diminish the threat, but I think as a defensive prop in order to squirm out of answering many years of failure.
Which is really dumb, because Bush gave them a pass and extended his hand to join him in protecting our country. It was a trap they created themselves.
CIA Chief Says Wiretap Disclosure Damaging
“The president has not only confirmed the existence of the program, he has spoken at length about it repeatedly,” while keeping Congress in the dark, said Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, the panel’s senior Democrat.
“The administration wants to have it both ways,” said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.
(AP) National Intelligence Director John Negroponte, left, with CIA Director Porter Goss, center, and…
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Goss complained that leaks to the news media about the surveillance program and activities such as reported CIA secret prisons abroad had damaged his own agency’s work.
“I use the words ‘very severe’ intentionally. And I think the evidence will show that,” Goss said.
He said not only have these revelations made it harder for the CIA to gather information, but they have made intelligence agencies in other countries mistrustful of their U.S. counterparts.
“I’m stunned to the quick when I get questions from my professional counterparts saying, ‘Mr. Goss, can’t you Americans keep a secret?'” he said.
Goss cited a “disruption to our plans, things that we have under way.” Some CIA sources and “assets” had been rendered “no longer viable or usable, or less effective by a large degree,” he said.
“I also believe that there has been an erosion of the culture of secrecy and we’re trying to reinstall that,” Goss said.
“I’ve called in the FBI, the Department of Justice. It is my aim and it is my hope that we will witness a grand jury investigation with reporters present, being asked to reveal who is leaking this information,” he said.
Rockefeller suggested that the “leaks” Goss talked about most likely “came from the executive branch” of the government.
That brought a terse response from FBI Director Robert Mueller, who said, “It’s not fair to point a finger as to the responsibility of the leak.”
SBD