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Audacity of Truth
Whiner-in-Chief:
"[W]hether the grumbling is about Republicans on Fox or bloggers in pajamas, there's a word for what the president and his aides are doing. That word is "whining." And nothing [...] does more damage to Obama's credibility or authority than the sense that a popular president is becoming the whiner-in-chief."
- John Nichols, Nation Magazine - 10/12/09
Latest NSA scandal leaves Americans unfazed
Encouraging news coming out of the Boston Globe:
Mark Jellison, a Verizon customer in Quincy, isn’t fazed that his phone company may have turned over his calling records and those of millions of others to the National Security Agency as part of an effort to thwart terrorism.
”After 9/11 our world has changed,” Jellison said yesterday, standing outside a grocery store in Dorchester. ”Prior to 9/11, I would have been more concerned, but I’m less concerned today.”
Added William MacKenzie, a Verizon customer from Taunton: ”I have nothing to hide, so I don’t have a problem with it. If it’s for the security of the country, it’s OK with me.”
Those interviewed yesterday overwhelmingly said the possibility of phone companies handing over records to the government didn’t alarm them and wouldn’t make them walk away from any of the companies.
And from today’s WaPo:
A majority of Americans initially support a controversial National Security Agency program to collect information on telephone calls made in the United States in an effort to identify and investigate potential terrorist threats, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.
The new survey found that 63 percent of Americans said they found the NSA program to be an acceptable way to investigate terrorism, including 44 percent who strongly endorsed the effort. Another 35 percent said the program was unacceptable, which included 24 percent who strongly objected to it.
A slightly larger majority–66 percent–said they would not be bothered if NSA collected records of personal calls they had made, the poll found.
Underlying those views is the belief that the need to investigate terrorism outweighs privacy concerns. According to the poll, 65 percent of those interviewed said it was more important to investigate potential terrorist threats “even if it intrudes on privacy.” Three in 10–31 percent–said it was more important for the federal government not to intrude on personal privacy, even if that limits its ability to investigate possible terrorist threats.
For the Democrats and your cohorts in the media, the message couldn’t be clearer: your demagoguing of this issue is not working. I guess you still haven’t learned from the last time you tried to do this, have you?
The talking point for today’s left, I predict will be “look how many Americans are willing to sacrifice their rights for security!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” preceded or followed by the famous Ben Franklin quote about sacrificing liberty for temporary safety that so frequently gets misquoted by the usual suspects.
In related news, along with the NYT, which I noted in my prior post predictably came down on this ‘latest development’, the Chicago Tribune follows suit with a condemnation of its own. Surprise surprise.
PM Update I: The USA Today is still pushing the “illegal” angle.
PM Update II: A reader points out something I overlooked when I posted the WaPo piece. Note the first line of the article (emphasis added):
A majority of Americans initially support a controversial National Security Agency program [...]
Heh. I guess the implication there is:
[evil cackle heard in the background] “they do now, but not once we’ve run the story into the ground over the next several weeks”
More discussion on this issue from the following blogs: Rick Moran, Michelle Malkin, In The Bullpen, Joe Gandelman, Blue Crab Boulevard, AJ Strata, Blogs For Bush, Right Voices
Related Toldjah So posts:
- The ACLU has a database of its own – and more NSA news
- The latest non-scandal scandal news involving the NSA
- FDR and domestic surveillance
- Sen. Russ Feingold demagogues NSA surveillance ’scandal’
- It doesn’t get any better than Jeff Goldstein (re: Feingold’s stunt)
- Senator Russ Feingold calls for censure of Bush
- House approves Patriot Act, Senate panel rejects broad NSA inquiry
- NSA Surveillance Program ’scandal’ – update
- Congressional probe of NSA surveillance may not happen afterall
- Admin briefs Congress on NSA surveillance
- Thomas Sowell on the NSA ’scandal’ controversy
- NSA ’scandal’ fallout: convicted terrorist conspirators wanting cases thrown out
- Intelligence officials: NSA leak has undermined ability to fight terrorism
- On politicizing the Patriot Act and the NSA ’scandal’
- NYT: NSA scandal is worse than WWII Japanese internment camps
- Link between disposable phone sale surge and NSA leak?
- Whistleblower or leaker?
- Joe Klein: How to Stay Out of Power (and undermine the war in the process)
- Why it was important to keep the cat in the bag
- The Rep. Jane Harman flip flop
- NSA initially acted on its own after 9-11
- Investigations begin into the NSA eavesdropping leak
- “… the only thing outrageous about this policy is the outrage itself”
- Michael Barone on the MSM’s ‘eavesdropping’ coverage
- Brief history of warrantless searches
- Past presidents and the NSA
- Bill Clinton and the NSA
- WSJ: “Thank you for wiretapping”
- The Prez fires back
- Prez essentially says ‘let me do my job’
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To be honest, I have more of a problem if the data miners are Democrats or the Leftists. The history of Leftist shenanigans is replete with episodes of blackmail, threats, and violence. But, frankly, to keep this Nation safe from witless enablers of Terror who live within our borders, I am all for the warrantless wiretapping.
Until we have destroyed or significantly injured the terrorists, I support whatever it takes.
We are big “Numb3rs” fans at my house. When I heard the details of this yesterday, the first thing that occurred to me was “of course!”. I can picture Charley drawing some huge network diagram, connecting phone calls from one number to another and discovering a nexus. I have zero issue with this.
You want my support for impeachment? Show me the administration ISN’T doing this!
“You want my support for impeachment? Show me the administration ISN’T doing this!”
Amen to that, Dave!
Sounds familiar…
I can’t seem to place it….
Something about soldiers….
Something about soldiers walking the line, standing guard for freedom, your freedom, the freedom you so enjoy at spitting in their facees, stabbing them in the back – while saying you support the troops….
These Americans do not mind giving up that ‘freedom’ to be protected.
I beleive there is also a Supreme Court ruling on this, that you do not have a right to privacy of phone records when it comes to data mining, only on wire-tapping, in which this is not – no matter how much democrats and the aclu screams it is.
Anything to hurt our president in a time of war….
Anything to undermine our resolve to get the job done…
Say anything, even if it is a lie, to make yourself look better….
Vote for us, well, because we aren’t Bush!
Plan? That is a plan.
I have to admit though, if the Republicans were half as tenacious as the Dmeocrats with getting a message out and party unity, things would be a heck of a lot different.
Works for me…
You almost have to be a committed psychotic to be a Democrat now days.
- Unfortunately PCD, they remain walking around “uncommitted”….(in so many ways)
- Bang
beleive there is also a Supreme Court ruling on this, that you do not have a right to privacy of phone records when it comes to data mining
We also have this thing called “Congress.” They pass “laws,” which are binding rules. There are “laws” against this kind of data mining.
I know, Dr. Dean is a prime example.
Which laws jpe? Be specific…can you even name them, or are you just parroting DNC talking points…
- Nice try jpe. The Communications act of 1994 in fact specifically includes number tracing and such as both lawfull, and a natural part of “public domain” law enforcement, and reinforced earlier legal statutes. Slick Willey needed it for “Eschelon”. I’m beginning to think that BDS is a self inflicted desease.
- Bang
- This morning, no sooner did FOX report an early poll taken overnight that showed 65% of Americans support the NSA program, than Marvin Kalb, the erstwhile hire apparent of that other leftard moonbat Dan Rather, appeared on FOX and gave us 5 minutes of “Well if thats true it will change as soon as Americans understand that NSA is doing all ‘kinds of things, spying throught your private…erm, and looking through your phone information, and other such ‘illegal’ acts”.
- In other words this is one big fat pile of BS, and the only way to keep it going is to just outright lie and drop “sinister” sounding hints of things that don’t exist.
- What amazes me is why FOX keeps trotting these partisan hacks out every day, giving them TV face time, and a platform to spread their “get Bush” lies and propeganda.
- I think they ask the wrong questions in these polls. How about:
- “Do you feel that reporters should get Pulitzer prizes for publishing National secrets that our enemies can use to blow us up.”
- Bang
“Nice try jpe. The Communications act of 1994 in fact specifically includes number tracing and such as both lawfull, and a natural part of “public domain” law enforcement, and reinforced earlier legal statutes”
There’s a process for it. It wasn’t followed. Because this is beyond what the laws authorize.
The government may be acting legally in asking. But the Telcos may be exposed to liability for turning it over.
So what were the phone companies doing with our phone records? Why do they save them and for how long? Can even THEY be trusted with our phone records? And how about credit companies? Can they be trusted with our credit histories? Or the IRS. Can they be trusted with our financial info? Who else has some info on us? Can they be trusted? Or is it only Bush who will engage in some evil plot with our records?
andrew, do you even know what the alleged “process” is for obtaining phone records? You’re just, once again, blindly assuming that the manufactured outrage about this administrations activities is de facto true.
Know how you obtain phone records? You ask for them! You do not need a warrant or a court order. If the holder of the records refuses, you can then get a court order to force them to comply or face legal consequences. This should have been done to Qwest.
And in the 1994 creation of the Communications act, since it wasn’t that tough a decision or controversial, I believe it was a vocal vote. The swimmer, as well as a couple other of the current whiners were in the room (status unknown) at the time, so presumably voted.
- Clinton – Does warrentless “breaks and enters” – Wonderous intern BJ solicitor, and Master statesman of what the meaning of “is” is.
- Bush – does legal law enforcement phone tracing – Evvvviiillll ChimpyHitlerMcHalliburton Neocon.
- The Democrab Left – What a bumch of childish pinheads.
- Bang
- So does this mean I’ll have to seek a refund and turn in all my copies of “keyhole”?
- And yet these pinheads think that people will be anxious to vote for them in National elections, watching them finally “discover” America is a nation of laws, and uses law enforcement to make sure all the mis-fits behave. Yes, that could happen…..
- Yesterdays news conferences with exact opposite messages from Schumer and Reid were priceless. The Dembulbs just keep getting kicked in the ass, over and over, by attacking Bush and the WOT, and they keep coming back for more. Brilliant strategy.
- The Dhimmcrabs know all too well that the security/WOT is “The” issue, followed very closely by the Border/immigration mess, which in some ways is very closely related to the WOT thing, and if they caan’t win that, they have no hope of regaing political power. But they took the wrong position from the begginning, and now they don’t know what the hell to do.
- Bush could ratchet up his job approval 30 points Monday night, just by doing what the majority of people want him too. Its that simple. The Donkeys are praying he doesn’t.
- Bang