Jun 23 2006
Media And Democrats Confused By Need To Stop Terrorists
I have no clue what the media and Democrats are thinking. They seem to be against everything we do to protect ourselves from attack. They are against military action, they are against fighting the terrorists in Iraq, they are against surveillance of terrorists if that surveillance might identify a connection here at home. They seem upset that we should do anything but simply die at the terrorists hands like good little sheep. Check out this wonderful statement:
Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., co-chairman of the Congressional Privacy Caucus, said there were disturbing similarities between the financial data tracking and the telephone and e-mail surveillance.
Oh yes, there are similarities:
(1) Both progranms target known terrorists. For example:
For the Swift transaction data to be reviewed, investigators have to produce the name of someone they suspect of terrorist links, a requirement that officials said keeps the government from launching fishing expeditions into the vast data pool.
So, there has to be a known terrorist EU and Belgium officials would recognize as a terrorist.
(2) The monitoring is on the overseas terrorists, any American caught up in this are referred to courts here in the US (e.g., FISA) if they are to become the focus of an investigation, And while all protections of the law are afforded, these people have some serious explaining to do.
(3) Both programs have been briefed to Congress for years
Select members of Congress received briefings after the program began in 2001. The full House and Senate Intelligence Committees were briefed about the program last month.
(4) Both programs are legal because they target our enemies who declared war on us. The declaration of war by Al Qaeda means Article II takes precedence – as our Constitution rightfully perscribes.
Democrats are all confused about why we would be investigating the finances and communications of terrorists planning to kill Americans. And then they wonder why they poll so poorly on national security? Is there any bettter reason not to elect Democrats?
(5) And the most important thing they have in common: they have both stopped potential attacks and saved lives.
These media outlets exposed no abuse of power, no wrongdoing against any citizen, no exploitation of the program for the personal gain of anyone involved. All they did was expose the program and exploit its existance for their own gain. They have prospered at the expense of the public safety. There ought to be a law … oh wait … nevermind.
This angers me. There is no legal question with this one! As andy mccarthy over at NRO said, not only is this legal, it’s “hyper-legal”! There’s no question! But the Left is against it. Why?! If the Left wants to rid of their image as “softies” and “traitors,” then it’s time for them to stop being softies and traitors.
Well AJ here is a clue,
It is all about regaining power, until the DEMS regain the power they believe in their hearts was stolen from them in 2000 they and their MSM allies will do anything to embarrass the REPUBS in general and the President in particular because you see in their world view the terrorists are just criminals. The true threat is the conservative agenda, once you understand that the LIBS are easy to figure out. Never forget the LIBS believe if we just gave them power they would create a socialist utopia were people would not need to commit terrorist acts.
I was going to write a sarcastic post asking what techniques are left to us now that phone and financial databases are absolute no-nos — but what’s the point? The fact that the leftists are leaping to the defense of those 22-to-32-year-old “harmless juvenile” terrorist-wannabes in Miami tells you something. That leftists ALSO condemn any procedure the government uses to track terrorists; that they apparently also have a phobia of anyone who would get pro-active about defending himself, his family, or his country; that they tend to react with revulsion to displays of patriotism yet wax lyrical about other cultures, even those cultures that despise us — well, all these things together tell you something about where these people are coming from. Let’s put it this way — these characters on the Left don’t give a damn about people being evicted from their homes because the local or state government wanted to give the property to a commercial developer because the developer is a better provider of tax revenue, so how can we possibly believe that the Left suddenly weeps for the lost sanctity of our phone calls or our bank transactions???
The Dems are not confused. They believe that there is only one terrorist in the world and that is bin Laden. Then there is Bush, Bush is the government and the government is Bush so they end up hating everything that Bush stands for, America. They simply can not help themselves.
Swift goes back to the 70’s. I heard that a bipartisan group from Congress together with Negraponte asked that this program not be exposed. It seems there were at least some Democrats who had a problem with what the NYT did. Maybe it is dawning on them that if they want to win a national election again they need to look like they can deal with terrorism.
How long has the NYT been working on this story? More than a month? More than the month ago that both “the full House and Senate Intelligence Committees were briefed about the program”?
What I find interesting is how the NYT, LAT, and WSJ all managed to publish exactly the same story on exactly the same day.
My understanding is that the NYT briefed them on the story.
To answer your question, AJ, the Democrats and press are thinking that if they in effect take away all the tools being used in the war on terror, then there will actually be another 9-11. And then, finally, they willbe able to get Bush. Oldcrow’s comment above hits the mark on the mindset.
I think it is no coincidence that the full Intelligence committees of both the House and Senate were briefed within the past month. I would not be surprised if the leak came from someone like Kerry. We need a President and AG with the cajones to act forcefully NOW to shut down these leaks. If that means monitoring every communication going in and out of the NY Times, Washington Post, and LAT, so be it…
My understanding is that the NYT briefed them on the story
Is that standard procedure? What would a news outlet “brief” their competition on a story? What is the purpose to having it out in so many outlets at the same time thereby dilluting the share of eyeballs that might want to see it? I guess I am just trying to better understand how newspapers work.
What would a news outlet “brief†their competition on a story?
Should be “Why would a news outlet …”
First Cup 06.25.06…
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Unfortunately, this administration can not do much to stop and/or prevent the leaks and publishing of those leaks. The reason being is that is EXACTLY what the MSM and Clintonista’s in the CIA want Bush to do! That will move forward their ‘action line’ and agenda ‘proving’ that the Bushies are a totalitorian fascist regime (in their own puny minds). See! Even the 1st ammendent isn’t safe! I can hear it all now. You must realize by now that facts, law and truth mean nothing to the Left. Their quest for power is absolute. The best way right now to curb this treasonous behavior is to financially damage the messengers (NYT, LAT, NBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, al-AP, al-Reuters, etc.). Businesses, small and large, need to cancel all advertising, cancel all subscriptions and distribution contracts. Quit watching, reading. There are plenty of alternative news sources that actually present ‘real news’ and support America, rather than aid and abet the terrorists