"We must learn the intentions of
the enemies before they strike.”
-George Bush on January 25 speaking at the
National Security Agency
The NSA wiretap
“scandal” continues to heat up with Democrats pouring
more fuel on a conflagration the mainstream media is
only too happy to fan the flames of.
But Democrats are
igniting their own funeral pyre.
If they think they took
a drubbing on Election Day in 2004 when both Houses of
Congress picked up Republican seats, they are almost
guaranteeing a similar fate come November this year when
one-third of the Senate and the entire House of
Representatives comes up for reelection.
The Democrat-led,
mainstream media abetted attack on the White House in
its current form can be distilled to four words: “Bush
spied on Americans” although we have to allow for five
words for those childish editors who refer to the
president as “King George.”
For Republicans, this
is almost too good to be true.
The president of the
United States, under authorization of the Patriot Act,
with the approval of Congress and with the scrutiny of a
raft of attorneys, wiretapped the phones of suspected al
Qaeda terrorists in this country in order to determine
if another attack was imminent or in its planning
stages.
Protecting law-abiding
citizens from immolation at the hands of a group of
Islamo-fascists is what has Democrats and the mainstream
media hyperventilating? If they keep this up, the Senate
will be filibuster-proof next year.
Americans are a
practical people with families they would like to see
protected. Enough of them are able to see through the
feigned outrage against the White House alleging the
president and his cronies violated the law by not
obtaining warrants for wiretaps.
Ask yourself this
question: Since 9/11 have I or anyone I know had his or
her Constitutional rights violated by a wiretap or some
other government-led intrusion? The media is quick to
seize on the few aberrations—citizens whose
circumstances were suspect to begin with—and make them
the poster children for the next fascist regime this
side of the Atlantic.
The vast majority of
Americans is simply not buying it.
There are
a number of reasons why, but one need delve no deeper
than pop culture to find an illustrative explanation.
The popularity of the
Fox TV show “24,” now in its fifth season, is one such
phenomenon in this regard. Thirty-five million viewers
tuned in for the season premiere on January 15.
Each season consists of
24 episodes with each episode being an hour of real time
in a day in the life of counter terrorism agent Jack
Bauer played by Kiefer Sutherland.
In one season, Bauer
thwarted terrorists’ attempts to unleash a deadly
bio-plague in selected cities across the U.S. Last
season, he prevented a nuclear missile from detonating
in Los Angeles. This season a cache of nerve gas buried
in a concrete bunker in Ontario Airport, California has
fallen into the hands of a cell of Russian or Chechen
terrorists. (Their identity isn’t clear, but it’s still
early in the season.)
But no terrorist is a
match for Bauer. His unorthodox methods of gathering
information, including torture, get the job done and
America is once again saved—at least until the next
season.
Hollywood isn’t
Washington. Jack Bauer isn’t George Bush. And most
Americans don’t condone torture—at least not publicly.
Still, there is a majority willing to let the president
conduct the war on terrorism in a way he sees fit.
Since 9/11, there has been no second terrorist attack in
this country. I think most Americans would like it to
stay that way. And they recognize that if it takes
“spying on Americans” by the NSA to keep us all safe,
it’s not a big deal.
To attempt
to make it a big deal is a political strategy doomed to
failure. If Democrats were wise, they’d realize that
continuing this charade of indignation will result in
more casualties—their own—at the ballot box next
November.
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