Say Anything Blog

In a related story, a new poll found that 93% of Americans--including 86% of Democrats--support putting ketchup on their french fries.

Oh wait. THAT poll has nothing at all to do with the WARRANTLESS surveillance controversy, so I probably shouldn’t mention it.

Kos is laughable… They’re beginning strategy for the “a well-deserved impeachment proceeding. It’s a good primer for what to expect as the coverage progresses.” You just can’t make this stuff up…

Michael Medved devoted an entire hour the other day begging, pleading his callers to give him ONE article of impeachment that could be brought against the President.. just one!  Of course, since the President hasn’t done anything illegal and is defending his actions fervently, there ARE no such articles that can be brought… but hey, let’s not let the facts get in the way of HATE BUSH!

Funny how silent the NYT is on just who leaked the story.
They were hyperventilating about who leaked some CIA secretaries name just what? six months ago.

The problem isn’t that Bush is spying, it’s that he’s spying without a warrant. This isn’t too complicated. I believe that “the NSA should be allowed to listen in on conversations between terror suspects and people living in the United States.” I, and I presume several others who replied in the affirmative, would just like some judicial oversight.

And we’re seeing some leftist bloggers complaining that the polling isn’t actually good news, but bad news. They think that support for this kind of eavesdropping should be even higher than it currently is.

One has to wonder what kind of mush for brains these folks have. Do they not realize that the skewed media coverage of the eavesdropping stories in the Times and elsewhere doesn’t affect and skew the polling results? If all people read and hear is bad news, don’t these leftist bloggers realize that the polling will reflect the bad news.

Despite the negative press in the Times and other big media sources, the high level of support for these kinds of warrantless searches against terrorists who are contacting individuals within the US shows that most folks still have some kind of functional common sense. Now, if the big media outlets actually noted that these kinds of warrantless searches are constitutional and justifiable on national security grounds, support would be much higher.

[...] This coupled with these poll results, where a majority of Democrats expressed support for the President’s domestic espionage initiatives, tells me two things: 1) That Democrats still can’t be taken seriously on national security and 2) All their faux outrage over Bush’s handling of the war on terror is having little impact with Americans. [...]

[...] Pajamas Media in Los Angeles Thursday, December 29, 2005 From the Rasmussen Reports poll everyone is blogging about: Should the National Security Agency be allowed to intercept telephone conversations between terrorism suspects in other countries and people living in the United States? Yes 64% No 23% Say Anything: “What is amazing to me is that not only do a majority of Republicans agree with the NSA spying but a slight majority of Democrats do as well. Considering that overall approval of the Bush administration by Democrats from numerous different polls hovers in the 20 - 30% range, the fact that over half of them approve of this spying program that the media and Democrat party leaders have been boisterous in decrying is remarkable.” Power Line: “This is definitely evidence for the ‘Wile E. Coyote’ theory that the Democrats are marching off a cliff. My only word of caution is that liberal arguments often are not popular when they are first launched, but the unremitting drumbeat of the liberal media sometimes allows them to get traction over time.” On the other side of the issue, Ezra Klein, a fellow at The American Propsect, takes issue with the poll results, and the manner in which the questions were asked: “So what’s with the 24% against? You’re telling me more folks support universal health care than the ability to spy on terrorists? No wonder we need to spy on ourselves—we’re a bunch of al-Qaeda sympathizers! But beyond the weird numbers, this question is just bizarre (or, to use the right word, biased). It’s like gauging support for Bush’s tax cuts by asking ‘Should the President lower your tax burden while stimulating the economy, encouraging growth, and reducing the deficit?’ The question is so utopian as to be nonsensical.” First Amendment litigator Glenn Greenwald, blogging at Unnamed Territory, called the poll “one of the most absurdly formulated polls ever.” [...]

[...] These low numbers, coupled with this blowback from moderate Democrats and these poll results showing majority Democrat support for Bush’s domestic spying policies, tell me one thing: Democrats are getting it wrong on national security. [...]

[...] I’ve noticed that many on the left (typical response here) are discounting the results of the Rasumussen poll I posted about here because they didn’t like the way the question was asked. [...]

[...] http://sayanythingblog.com/2005/12/28/poll-americans-ok-with-nsa-spying/ [...]

Oh wait. THAT poll has nothing at all to do with the WARRANTLESS surveillance controversy, so I probably shouldn’t mention it.

Are you saying that the above poll had nothing to do with the NSA controversy?  Because while the question absolutely should have referred to warrantless searches in order to be more accurate it is still fairly on target.

And there is oversight of the President’s actions in this regard.  Congress was kept abreast of what he was doing, and they certainly have the power to pull the plug either be revoking the authorization for force or by defunding the programs he’s using.  SCOTUS could also rule that the President’s Article II war powers don’t extend this far.  From my reading of the constitution and the related case law I don’t think that’s likely, but still...checks and balances.

See how that works?

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-- Thomas Jefferson

Rob’s recently listened-to songs:

[...] According to this poll, 56% of Americans think that the NSA intelligence gathering authorized by President Bush required a warrant. A Rasmussen poll from back in December had 64% of Americans thinking that the President’s actions without a warrant were fine. [...]