Winds of Change on NSA
EJ Dionne has an excellent observation about the “Winds of Change”
But for the past five years, President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Karl Rove have been willing to put the national unity required to fight terrorism in second place behind their goals of aggrandizing presidential power and winning elections. Can you get more pre-Sept. 11 than that?
Instead of seeking broad agreement on the measures required for our nation's safety, they preferred to pick fights designed to make the Democrats look soft and to claim the president could do pretty much anything he wanted.
And this..
Focus for a moment on Graham's reference to "any other president." It's instructive to imagine what Republicans in Congress (let alone Rush Limbaugh or Bill O'Reilly) would say if a President Hillary Rodham Clinton were to claim the far-reaching authority Bush and Cheney say they have. Is there any doubt that the entire Republican Party would - to cite a recent comment by Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman - "have a lot of anger" and denounce Clinton for arrogance, overreaching and power lust?
"The president should have all the tools he needs to fight terrorism," Specter said, "but we also want to maintain our civil liberties." Now there is a perfect expression of patriotic, post-Sept. 11 thinking.
So what’s it going to be?
But for the past five years, President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Karl Rove have been willing to put the national unity required to fight terrorism in second place behind their goals of aggrandizing presidential power and winning elections. Can you get more pre-Sept. 11 than that?
Instead of seeking broad agreement on the measures required for our nation's safety, they preferred to pick fights designed to make the Democrats look soft and to claim the president could do pretty much anything he wanted.
And this..
Focus for a moment on Graham's reference to "any other president." It's instructive to imagine what Republicans in Congress (let alone Rush Limbaugh or Bill O'Reilly) would say if a President Hillary Rodham Clinton were to claim the far-reaching authority Bush and Cheney say they have. Is there any doubt that the entire Republican Party would - to cite a recent comment by Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman - "have a lot of anger" and denounce Clinton for arrogance, overreaching and power lust?
"The president should have all the tools he needs to fight terrorism," Specter said, "but we also want to maintain our civil liberties." Now there is a perfect expression of patriotic, post-Sept. 11 thinking.
So what’s it going to be?
posted by Zack at 6:58 AM
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