More Ridiculousness from the Democrats

The Democrats have been complaining lately that Bush authorized surveillance of people with known al Qaeda ties without first obtaining a warrant from a FISA court. This is yet another example of the dems playing politics with intelligence and our national security.

First, they constantly repeat that Bush is "spying" on American citizens. This, naturally, is something that would upset people. However, they usually neglect to mention that this only occurs when part of the communication involves a known al Qaeda operative, or someone with known ties to al Qaeda. This, by contrast, does not upset most people.

Second, they argue that the FISA courts are quick and efficient. This is not true. The 9/11 Commission even agrees. It is true that once the matter is before the court, it does not take long to get the warrant. However, setting up the court and preparing evidence for it can take weeks.

Third, this is another instance of the Dems thinking that terrorism is simply a matter of law enforcement. As has already been shown, the law enforcement approach does very little to avoid terrorist attacks. Terrorism prevention calls for a more proactive approach that cannot be hindered by traditional law enforcement hurdles.

Fourth, they ignore that the Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed that national security is the duty of the executive, not merely a power that can be exercised at its discretion. That is to say, the executive does not have the option of pursuing national security, it has the obligation, and the requirement, even. Moreover, take the 1972 Keith decision (United States v. Sinclair), for example, in which the Supreme Court struck down warrantless surveillance for domestic crime prevention, but explicitly stated that they were not addressing warrantless surveillance for national security matters. Or, more recently, a FISA Court of Review opinion in 2002 stated that the president had constitutional authority to conduct warrantless surveillance for national security.

Fifth, they ignore that, since the creation of the FISA courts, both democrat presidents (Carter and Clinton) have retained the power to use the same warrantless surveillance that Bush is using.

Sixth, the idea that Bush is acting outside the law of this is ludicrous in view of the fact that FISA courts were not created until the Carter administration, and warrantless surveillance for national security purposes predates that by a longshot, and had been held to be legal.

Seventh, the idea that this is some sort of power grab by Bush doesn't hold up; national security has always been the purview of the executive and a strong case could be made that the roadblocks set up by Congress were a power grab by that institution.

Eighth, check out this list of warrantless searches of Americans for matters not related to national security that have been held by the Supreme Court to be acceptable.

Ninth, look at the case of Zacarias Moussaoui, the would-be "20th hijacker" of 9/11. He was caught prior to that and the FBI wanted to search his laptop, but lacked enough evidence to petition a FISA court for a warrant. History could have been radically altered.

Admittedly, this was all written in a hurry, and is not as comprehensive or persuasive as I would like, but I wanted to get something up. So, I'll throw up a few quick links to stuff that was better prepared:

Byron York on Clinton and warrantless searches
Byron York on Clinton and warrantless searches, part 2
Byron York on problems with FISA courts
James Robbins on surveillance and the NSA
Wall Street Journal write-up on wiretapping
Defense of wireless wiretaps by John Schmidt, Associate Attorney General in the Clinton Justice Department

Simpsons Top 100 Countdown

#84 Much Apu About Nothing
Season 7, Episode 23 (Guide from the Simpsons Archive)
A bear wanders into Springfield, and Homer leads a citizen protest to the mayor’s office, demanding that the city do a better job protecting its citizens from bears. Mayor Quimby institutes a bear patrol (what ever happened to the city counsel? Is mayor a dictatorial position in Springfield?). Homer is outraged when he finds out that the city withheld $5 from his paycheck for a bear tax, and another citizen protest goes to the mayor’s office. Quimby decides to deflect the problem by blaming high taxes on illegal immigrants, and the people go along and adopt an anti-immigrant attitude (failing to notice the difference between legal and illegal immigrants – sound like democrats to me). While Homer is campaigning for the mayor’s proposition to deport all illegal immigrants, he stops by the Kwik-E-Mart and discovers that Apu is an illegal immigrant. Apu, in desperation, notices that Kearney has a fake ID and offers to overlook his shoplifting in exchange for information about where to obtain one. He gets the fake documents from Fat Tony, and tries to act American, but can’t continue his lie and manages to find a sympathetic Homer this time, who offers to teach him all about American history so he can pass his citizenship test. Apu passes the test, and Homer campaigns against the proposition, which passes overwhelmingly anyways. Un-memorable moments include the politics of the eoisode and the poor history demonstrated by Apu when explaining what caused the Civil War (which is funny, in a way, because the writers were trying to act smart and say it was more than slavery, but totally messed up in doing so). Memorable moments, on the other hand, include the bear, Homer complaining about taxes, Quimby’s shenanigans (especially the deleted scene with the secretarial pool, and the non-deleted scene with the pic-i-nic basket), Homer’s history lesson (including the flag and the location of Springfield), Apu acting American, and Kearney using the fake ID.

Simpsons Top 100 Countdown

#85 Homer’s Triple Bypass
Season 4, Episode 13 (Guide from the Simpsons Archive)
Homer is experiencing chest pains due to his clogged arteries, and Marge is trying to improve his eating habits. However, being fired by Mr. Burns induces a heart attack. Dr. Hibbert says that Homer needs surgery, but the Simpsons lack insurance and the funds to pay for it. As they despair over how to get the needed money, they see an ad on television for Dr. Nick Riviera, who will perform any surgery for $129.95. Unfortunately, he’s under investigation for gross incompetence. However, with a little help from Lisa, he manages to successfully perform the surgery. Memorable moments include the Springfield version of Cops, the hospital waiting room, Dr. Hibbert abusing Homer, Dr. Nick Riviera (pretty much everything involving him), visitations with Homer in the hospital (especially his instructions to Marge on what to do in the event of his death), and the “people who look like things” television show.