Bush SOTU: National Security, Here They Come
22 January 2006 5:19 pm by Taylor Marsh
Bush SOTU: National Security, Here They Come
In a speech last week, Al Gore took another
swing at the National Security Agency’s electronic surveillance program, which
monitors international communications when one party is affiliated with terrorists.
Specifically, Mr. Gore argued that George Bush "has been breaking the law
repeatedly and persistently," and that such actions might constitute an
impeachable offense. The question he raises is whether the president illegally
bypassed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). But the real issue
is national security: FISA is as adept at detecting–and, thus, preventing–a
terrorist attack as a horse-and-buggy is at getting us from New York to Paris.
Victoria Toensing,
WSJ
The sub-heading of the article above says it all: "Do
Al Gore and other Democrats really want to keep the government from finding
al Qaeda agents in the U.S.?"
Welcome to our reality, circa election 2006.
It seems clear that in order to deflect the damage the NSA illegal
wiretapping issue can cause the president, he has one choice. Turn his presidency
toward the issue and drive right through it.
Andrea Mitchell said today on that guy’s now unmentionable NBC
show, that Bush is going to ask Congress in his SOTU speech for the authority
to wiretap, using FISA, by extending some of its provisions. Our president should
have done that before he broke the law.
Karl Rove began the 2006 campaign by coming out of hiding and excoriating the Democratic Party. But his boss is going to put it in full gear at his SOTU, it seems. At least, all the is evidence that way. And we’re going to offer up Tim Kaine?
So the question is out there for us to answer. Do we want to keep
the government from finding al Qaeda agents in the U.S.? There’s only one answer and it benefits Bush.
Of course, you can try to change the question, but just for a
moment, think of Ken doll Sean Hannity’s tactic of interviewing. When he questions
a Democratic guest, asking one of these unanswerable questions, he or she invariably
tries to change the subject. For instance, saying that’s a preposterous question,
the real issue is…. However, Ken doll always interrupts and abruptly brings
it back to the question he wants the person to answer, wherein the Democrat
has to answer no.
The issue is that for 4 years President Bush has been illegally
wiretapping citizens when he could have gone to Congress a long time ago to
get the provisions changed. He also could have gone to FISA, but he chose to
ignore the law and the court, not to mention Congress, to unilaterally make
the rules up as he went along.
This is against the law.
But just try playing the answer that question game in your head.
Then picture our senators playing it.
Got sound bite?
