The verdict on the Democrats is coming in and it is not good (the link to the new poll is at the end if you want to bypass the narrative). The Democrats played a risky game all year in their grasping attempts to paint President Bush as a fear mongering, power hungry, out of control zealot. The process began in the run up to the Iraq war when someone with faked Niger documents tried to claim the administration had used known forgeries to make the case to take out Saddam Hussein. The reality was the fakes were known to only a few and did not offset the other real information on hand. After the war was basically over (and rebuilding the Iraq nation had begun) Joe Wilson re-initiated the claim Bush and Cheney used the forgeries to trick the public into war – but his actions took a wild turn when stories came out debunking his accusations in the media. Then came the Downing Street forgeries. (Then Rathergate and the TANG fantasies – but that is another tale). The essence of all these early efforts was to claim Bush was using the war on terror as cover for his sinister plots

After the 2004 elections, when the Democrats were pounded at the polls over their lack of decisive plans on terrorism, the fever pitch hit new highs. The story turned to how Bush was using fear to prop up the Reps and continue is evil plans. In December 2005 the NY Times exposed how the NSA was monitoring communications of terrorist and picking up contacts with people in the US. The Times played this story out with half truths and misinformation to claim Bush was spying on Americans (not terrorists). The Times claimed the NSA was going around the FISA Court, when their own reporting actually showed just the opposite – NSA leads were now being used as probable cause for surveillance warrants. This was one of those necessary fixes post 9-11.

Then the WaPo exposed what was not a secret CIA prison system, but a CIA prisoner transportation system. As Al Qaeda were being identified and captured, sometimes in the heart of Europe, they would be transported to temporary locations on their way probably to GITMO. But because one site supposedly being was an old Gulag the imaginitive reporters couldn’t resist calling the network “a prison” instead of a prisoner transportation system.

All the time this was happening the left was screaming that Bush was overstating the threat. Some in the leftward fevered swamps even began to believe 9-11 was a big set up concocted by Bush and Cheney themselves. And so the NY Times felt comfortable feeding this paranoia by exposing another anti-terrorism program, one that monitored financial transactions. The reporting was clear in the fact the program was legal and successful. But it was also clear in its intention to give the impression the evil Bush regime was monitoring people’s money transfers. Later another ‘sinister plot’ was exposed that claimed the NSA was monitoring all the email, which looks to me like nothing more the the Federal Government’s secure communications that they purchase from telecom companies. And another that claimed the NSA had phone records on all Americans – covering a measely ten million or so phone numbers. The simple fact 300 Million people in the US us more than 10 million phones never occurred to the liberal fantasy weavers as a bit of a discrepency in their story line. To this day the gullible still believe this silly claim.

For nearly 2 years the lefties have been crying out that Bush was not after terrorists but Americans. The NY Times and LA Times rationalized exposing our best defenses because they felt the war on terror was much ado about nothing. They felt the Global War On Terror was all exaggeration, a political ploy, a joke. They wanted to get the UN involved in Iraq and the ME to stop America from making things worse. This was the game plan for two+ years. And it seemed to be working with the Lamont win over Leiberman and a liberal judges decision that Al Qaeda had a First Amendment right to talk to their comrades here in the US. The jubilation by the left echoed Harry Reid’s claim that the Democrats had “killed the Patriot Act”! And then reality hit.

First there UK Airline Bombing plot, and the fact it was foiled using the same NSA surveillance and financial monitoring methods the NY Times explained needed to be exposed since they were no longer needed. After all Bush was simply over reacting. That news alone was a stunner, because so many people travelled that day and you could feel the reality of 9-11 come rushing back. But this time it was not fear but determination to face it down. This reaction obviously clashed with the “runaway, its too hard” calls from the left. So now the left has decided we are not safe, after spending months making us not safe, and ridiculously asks for America to vote for them. It is too late now to switch gears. The 9-11 anniversary is coming upon and the cable shows and theatres are showing dramatic reminders of those fateful days. And it is not hard to imagine what August 06 would have been like if there had been no monitoring of communications and money transfers.

And the reliance on the UN and EU to solve our problems is being shown to be a naive and foolish approach now that France has gone back on their commitment to support the Lebanon peace keeping mission. It is clear there is no point in relying on these people for anything. And the Democrats were the ones who pushed this as their master solution for all our worst problems, from Iraq to terrorism in general.

The verdict is coming in and it is the Democrats are confused, paranoid, sometimes delusional and not worthy of being taken seriously on national security. The latest Gallup Poll tells the story:

In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday, support for an unnamed Democratic congressional candidate over a Republican one narrowed to 2 percentage points, 47%-45%, among registered voters. Over the past year, Democrats have led by wider margins that ranged up to 16 points.

Now 42% of Americans say they approve of the job Bush is doing as president, up 5 points since early this month. His approval rating on handling terrorism is 55%, the highest in more than a year.

The boost may prove to be temporary, but it was evidence of the continuing political power of terrorism.

It’s not the power of terrorism, it is the stupidity of the Democrats spending 2 years claiming the entire terrorism issue was being overblown and Bush was spying on Americans. You cannot make these kinds of wild accusations and then be proven wrong. Mature, serious people are going to rightfully conclude anyone who believed this nonsense is a waste of time to listen to. The more serious the issue the harder the response will be. And terrorism is serious. People die if we get it wrong. there is no amount of message that will correct the mistakes the liberals have made the last two years in their rantings. The moderate democrats like Leiberman have been shown the door by the far left and they will take that door. If this election is going to be a choice between fighting terrorism or impeaching Bush, then we will fight terrorism.