Feb 11 2006

Terrorists Or Science Fiction

3 responses so far

3 Responses to “Terrorists Or Science Fiction”

1. Seixon says:

   February 11, 2006 at 4:28 pm

   Hell, the left is even attacking science, from the left of course.

2. Ghost Dansing says:

   February 12, 2006 at 6:59 am

   There is no president in American history who has gone to the American people more often than George W. Bush has to ask them to forget about things like democracy, judicial process and the balance of powers — and just trust him. We also can’t think of a president who has deserved that trust less.

   After 9/11, Mr. Bush authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on the conversations and e-mail of Americans and others in the United States without obtaining a warrant or allowing Congress or the courts to review the operation. Lawmakers from both parties have raised considerable doubt about the legality of this program, but Attorney General Alberto Gonzales made it clear last Monday at a Senate hearing that Mr. Bush hasn’t the slightest intention of changing it.

   According to Mr. Gonzales, the administration can be relied upon to police itself and hold the line between national security and civil liberties on its own. Set aside the rather huge problem that our democracy doesn’t work that way. It’s not clear that this administration knows where the line is, much less that it is capable of defending it. Mr. Gonzales’s own dedication to the truth is in considerable doubt. In sworn testimony at his confirmation hearing last year, he dismissed as “hypothetical” a question about whether he believed the president had the authority to conduct warrantless surveillance. In fact, Mr. Gonzales knew Mr. Bush was doing just that, and had signed off on it as White House counsel.

   Arlen Specter told The Washington Post, that if that lickspittle lawyer thinks all this is legal, “he’s smoking Dutch Cleanser.”

   Republicans on the Judiciary Committee who expressed skepticism or voiced serious doubts about the program included Mike DeWine and Sam Brownback, and, of course, the chairman, Arlen Specter. “You think you’re right,” Senator Specter told Mr. Gonzales. “But there are a lot of people who think you’re wrong.”

   Apart from the legal issues, it’s increasingly clear that the president’s program is contributing little if anything to the effort to protect Americans from Qaeda-type terrorism.

   Senator Biden asked Mr. Gonzales whether the program had achieved any results. Mr. Gonzales said it had helped identify “would-be terrorists here in the United States.”

   “Have we arrested those people?” asked Mr. Biden. “Have we arrested the people we’ve identified as terrorists in the United States?”

   The attorney general’s reply left people shaking their heads and rubbing their eyes. “When we can use our law enforcement tools to go after the bad guys,” he said, “we do that.”

   Senator Biden tried to push the issue, but Mr. Gonzales would not elaborate. Mr. Biden finally said: “Well, I hope we arrested them — if you identified them. I mean, it kind of worries me because you all talk about how you identify these people, and I’ve not heard anything about anybody being arrested.”

   A clue to Mr. Gonzales’s reluctance to discuss the achievements of the president’s domestic spying program could be found on the front page of The Washington Post on Sunday. A long article about the program began as follows:

   “Intelligence officers who eavesdropped on thousands of Americans in overseas calls under authority from President Bush have dismissed nearly all of them as potential suspects after hearing nothing pertinent to a terrorist threat, according to accounts from current and former government officials and private-sector sources with knowledge of the technologies in use.”

   Republicans; tough on America, ineffective against terrorists. Have a nother snort of dutch cleanser.

3. Bruce Hayden says:

   February 12, 2006 at 1:02 pm

   Ghost Dansing

   Long post for not saying anything outside DU talking points.