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Politics : Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sully- who wrote (61321)	7/27/2007 4:14:36 PM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 90947

The President, you see, is honored that two such heros would be willing to run with him - and they are heros, not foolish victims, as the Democrats make them out to be. Jogging With the Troops Posted by Mark Noonan Blogs for Bush July 26, 2007 There is one thing that is starting to impress itself on my mind - that the members of the military are starting to have a monumental contempt for the Democrats. It was Grant's "boys in blue" who essentially kept the United States Republican for a generation after the Civil War - the percentage of Americans who are veterans isn't nearly as high as it was 1865-85, but I think that for the next 20 years, at least, we can expect 70%+ of veteran votes going for the Republicans. The difference - the thing which is making the members of the military turn firmly away from the Democrats - is the contrast between the way Republicans, from President Bush on down, view the military and the way Democrats do. To Republicans, the servicemembers are the best America has to offer - a cut above everyone else; the people who volunteer to go fight when the opportunities in civil life are so rich and varied. To Democrats, the servicemembers are "poor children" who got suckered into Bush's evil and stupid war - the contrast shows itself in a lot of ways, not least of which was in the President's jog with a couple wounded war veterans on the south lawn of the White House: <<< THE PRESIDENT: I've been running with Max and Allen -- I mean, Neil. I met these guys at Walter Reed. Neil lost both legs, and he told me he's going to run with me on the South Lawn of the White House. Max lost his leg, and he told me he was going to be jumping out of airplanes with the 101st Airborne. Sure enough, he's jumping out of airplanes with the 101st Airborne, and along with Neil, he's running on the South Lawn. Running with these two men is incredibly inspirational for me. And it should be inspirational to anybody who has been dealt a tough hand. Sometimes in life you get dealt a hand that you didn't expect to play, and they got dealt a tough hand, and they're playing it with all their soul. And I appreciate you guys being here. It means a lot to me. Today Senator Dole and Secretary Shalala delivered a report to the White House. I told the press corps that they were going to go out and hold a press conference. They've held their press conference. I'd like to make some comments on that report. First of all, the spirit of that report is, any time we have somebody hurt, they deserve the best possible care, and their family needs strong support. We've provided that in many cases, but to the extent we haven't, we're going to adjust. In that recommendation, there are things the United States Congress should do, and I call upon them to do it. In that report, there are a lot of things that the executive branch of government can do, the Veterans Administration, Department of Defense. And I've instructed Secretary Gates and Secretary Nicholson to look at every one of these recommendations, to take them seriously, and to implement them, so that we can say with certainty that any soldier who has been hurt will get the best possible care and treatment that this government can offer. I'm working with two men who have been hurt, two men who refuse to allow their current circumstances to get them down or to keep them down. I am proud to be with you with guys. Neil, thank you. God bless you, Max. He wanted me to jump out of airplanes with him. I respectfully declined. Q How does it feel to be with the Commander-in-Chief running around the track? SERGEANT DUNCAN: Fantastic. It's an accomplishment. It's like the pinnacle of recovery, I think. Being a wounded vet, coming of Afghanistan a little over a year-and-a-half ago, being here, running around this track is just amazing. I couldn't ask for anything better. THE PRESIDENT: Don't ask him why he outran me. Q Why did he outrun you? THE PRESIDENT: Because he's a faster runner. Anyway, thank you guys. It's a proud moment for me, a proud moment. >>> The President, you see, is honored that two such heros would be willing to run with him - and they are heros, not foolish victims, as the Democrats make them out to be. These are men who left hearth and home and volunteered to go around the world to help other people, people they've never met, fight for a better life - and they are heros who did their job, paid a very high price, and would go and do the same thing if they had it to do all over again. There is a moral excellence in such men and women which is lacking in those who demand we show compassion - but who can only express their compassion in demands for higher taxes and more government spending. These men, and their like, deserve the best of our nation and we should all work to see that they get it. blogsforbush.com whitehouse.gov

To: Sully- who wrote (61321)	7/28/2007 2:43:45 PM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 90947

[N]o Administration has ever conceded that FISA trumps a President's Constitutional power to place wiretaps in the name of national security. The courts have also explicitly upheld this Presidential power. Mr. Bush was making a needless concession that Democrats have used against him as they refuse to compromise. Wiretap Debacle How politics has gutted the terrorist surveillance program. The Wall Street Journal Editorial Page Friday, July 27, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT The U.S. homeland hasn't been struck by terrorists since September 11, and one reason may be more aggressive intelligence policies. So Americans should be alarmed that one of the best intelligence tools--warrantless wiretapping of al Qaeda suspects--has recently become far less effective and is in danger of being neutered by Congressional Democrats. President Bush approved this terrorist surveillance not long after 9/11, allowing intelligence officials to track terrorist calls overseas, as well as overseas communications with al Qaeda sympathizers operating in the U.S. The New York Times exposed the program in late 2005, and Democrats and antiwar activists immediately denounced it as an "illegal" attempt to spy on Americans, à la J. Edgar Hoover. Democratic leaders were briefed on the program from the first and never once tried to shut it down. But once it was exposed, these same Democrats accused Mr. Bush of breaking the law by not getting warrants from the special court created under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978. Mr. Bush has rightly defended the program's legality, but as a gesture of compromise in January he agreed to seek warrants under the FISA process. This has turned out to be an enormous mistake that has unilaterally disarmed one of our best intelligence weapons in the war on terror. To understand why, keep in mind that we live in a world of fiber optics and packet-switching. A wiretap today doesn't mean the FBI must install a bug on Abdul Terrorist's phone in Peshawar. Information now follows the path of least resistance, wherever that may lead. And because the U.S. has among the world's most efficient networks, hundreds of millions of foreign calls are routed through the U.S. That's right: If an al Qaeda operative in Quetta calls a fellow jihadi in Peshawar, that call may well travel through a U.S. network. This ought to be a big U.S. advantage in our "asymmetrical" conflict with terrorists. But it also means that, for the purposes of FISA, a foreign call that is routed through U.S. networks becomes a domestic call. So thanks to the obligation to abide by an outdated FISA statute, U.S. intelligence is now struggling even to tap the communications of foreign-based terrorists. If this makes you furious, it gets worse. Our understanding is that some FISA judges have been open to expediting warrants, as well as granting retroactive approval. But there are 11 judges in the FISA rotation, and some of them have been demanding that intelligence officials get permission in advance for wiretaps. This means missed opportunities and less effective intelligence. And it shows once again why the decisions of unaccountable judges shouldn't be allowed to supplant those of an elected Commander in Chief. When the program began, certain U.S. telecom companies also cooperated with the National Security Agency. But they were sued once the program was exposed, and so some have ceased cooperating for fear of damaging liability claims. We found all of this hard to believe when we first heard it, but we've since confirmed the details with other high-level sources. Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell more or less admitted the problem last week, albeit obliquely, when he told the Senate that "we're actually missing a significant portion of what we should be getting." That's understating things. Our sources say the surveillance program is now at most one-third as effective as it once was. The Bush Administration bears much of the blame for this debacle. White House officials hoped that by agreeing to put the wiretaps under FISA authority, they could lower the political temperature and reach an accommodation with Congress. But no Administration has ever conceded that FISA trumps a President's Constitutional power to place wiretaps in the name of national security. The courts have also explicitly upheld this Presidential power. Mr. Bush was making a needless concession that Democrats have used against him as they refuse to compromise. The Administration wants Congress to modernize FISA in two crucial ways: First, by allowing NSA to track on a real-time basis these foreign calls that may be routed through the U.S., and in some cases allowing warrants to be sought after the fact. Our spooks would still be accountable, but they'd also be able to act quickly to defend the country. Second, the White House is requesting liability protection for telecom companies that cooperate with the wiretap program. Neither of these changes should be at all controversial--and we're confident they'd have overwhelming public support if the issues were understood. Yet for six months Senate Democrats have resisted these legal changes to make Americans safer. Incredibly, they are fronting for their trial lawyer campaign donors in blocking liability protection. Their counteroffer is to have the federal government supplant the companies as the defendants in any wiretapping lawsuits, as if any such lawsuits were justified. Why are Democrats letting trial lawyers interfere with a vital intelligence operation? Meanwhile, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy is holding any wiretap legislation hostage to his demand for Administration documents related to the program. This is part of the Democrats' political exercise to claim that Mr. Bush has somehow broken the law by allowing the wiretaps. Backed by grandstanding Republican Arlen Specter, in short, Mr. Leahy is more interested in fighting over how the program began than in allowing it to continue today. At least a few Democrats realize they may be setting themselves up for trouble if there's another terrorist attack. House Intelligence Chairman Silvestre Reyes wrote to Mr. Bush last week saying he was "very concerned" about the program and urging the Administration to "devote all the resources necessary to ensure that we are conducting maximum surveillance of the terrorist target abroad." Mr. Reyes went on to note that "FISA does not require a warrant for communications between two individuals outside the United States. If clarifications to the law are necessary, we are prepared to deal with this." That'll serve Mr. Reyes well as political cover if the next 9/11 Commission asks who ruined the terrorist surveillance program. But if he's serious about national security, he should send his next letter to Senate Democrats. Six months is too long for Mr. Bush to cater to Pat Leahy while Americans are put at risk. The President should announce immediately that he is rescinding his concession to put these foreign wiretaps under the FISA court. He should say he is doing so as an urgent matter of national security as Commander in Chief because Congress has refused to respond in good faith by modernizing the law to let the U.S. eavesdrop on terrorists who wish us deadly harm. Then let Democrats explain why they're willing to put partisanship above the safety of America. opinionjournal.com

To: Sully- who wrote (61321)	7/28/2007 3:04:54 PM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 90947

FISA Debate Heats Up [Rich Lowry] From a Republican on Capitol Hill: <<< Late last night, Democrats began emergency internal discussions on updating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Republican Congressmen have been criticizing the Democratic leadership for refusing to reform FISA to serious address gaps that are hurting the ability of US intelligence to intercept terrorist communications. Republican criticism of the Dems for planning to take off the month of August without fixing this serious problem seems to be having an effect. The Dems are looking for some kind of minor fix so they can say they addressed this issue before they recess on or about August 3rd. There's been talk of shortening the recess by a week or so because of the lack of accomplishments by this Congress, but that's another story. Congress returns on September 4th. The Dems were negotiating for meetings with the WH to discuss a fix to FISA last night. Dem leadership wanted meetings without Republican congressional reps. Fortunately, the WH did not agree to this. The meetings were held this morning. Dems discussed some minor fixes that House and Senate Republicans rejected. No word on when or if these meetings will reconvene. >>> corner.nationalreview.com