Monday, December 19, 2005
Way To Go, George!
Saturday morning, the president finally did what I've been hoping he'd do for a long time -- He called the Dems bluff. His radio address was a stem-winder. Captain's Quarters live blogged it here. The news is that he called the Dems to task for the Patriot Act filibuster. But the big news is that he called the NYTimes bluff regarding his approval of "domestic" spying.This whole thing is a blatant attempt by the Times to influence the vote on the Patriot Act. It is pure politics and it is reprehensible. Dadmanly has all the details so you can understand how insignificant the accusation really is.
There are two issues in this entire mess. One is the press so obvioulsy playing politics off the editorial page. It is no longer surprizing to see this, but this is so blatant that it sets a new standard. It really is time for our newspapers to declare their political points of view and let Americans choose who to read on that basis.
But secondly is what the Dems and their NYTimes cohorts have chosen to play politics over. The Dems are, politically speaking, in desperate need of a win. They sensed a softness on the issue of the Patriot Act, particularly with this bit of "journalism" in tow, and decided to strike, regardless of the consequences to national security or the lives of Americans. The Patriot Act was designed to help 9-11 from ever happening again, but now thanks to the Dems, if the Senate does not act next week, the door to that will again be wide open.
The President is banking on the American people being smart enough to know what matters and what doesn't. I hope he's right. I hope this is one of those issues that matters to the political classes but to Joe Six-Pack, our national security is paramount.
Call your Senator today -- Let them know you want the Patriot Act in place come January 1! Don't stop with your Senator, call 'em all - anyone with a "D" after their name. Tell them in no uncertain terms that if they play politics with our national security again, they will never see the inside of the Senate after the next election. Tell them they better be sure that they think the abrogation of civil rights they "see" endangered in the Patriot Act is worth the lives of thousands on American in another terrorist incident.
I missed the President's address to the nation Sunday night, but there is some good stuff from Captain's Quarters and especially Michelle Malkin. This was straight up on Iraq. Sounds like it went well -- but I wish the President would play as much hardball on this issue as he did Saturday on the Patriot Act.
