Follow the Money

President Bush was at his fearmongering best this week as he warned of grave danger to America from The Terrorists Who Want To Kill Us. The subject was the renewal of the warrentless wiretapping provision of the Protect America Act. Dangerous talk and also a dangerous exaggeration of a real problem, completely distorted by his blatant political intent.

President Bush:

At this moment, somewhere in the world, terrorists are planning new attacks on our country," he said. "Their goal is to bring destruction to our shores that will make September the 11th pale by comparison. To carry out their plans, they must communicate with each other, they must recruit operatives, and they must share information.

Starkly true but entirely irrelevant. The surveillance will not stop, the lines won't go dark, the country will still be protected. FISA 101! The only thing that changes is that BUSH CAN WIRETAP ANYONE HE WANTS but he has to get a warrent first! He'll have to obey the law!

What's at stake here is simply the ability of the President to force his will on a compliant and fearful Congress once again. His administration is in the endgame of his quest for imperial authority. The tragedy is that he really doesn't care about security in the homeland. Consider his budget and the funding levels for those agencies that would be directly involved with the "new attacks" that the President so stridently warns us about.

Marie Cocco writes at Truthdig.com:

Grants to states and local governments for homeland security and first responders were cut by half from current funding levels, according to an analysis by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Meanwhile, financing for a special urban security program that is intended to replace pork-barrel jockeying among states, with funds better targeted to those cities—New York, Los Angeles and Washington—known to be at greatest risk of attack, is held just about flat. A project meant to help detect a nuclear or radiological device in densely populated cities—was cut by 25 percent, according to Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. Another to train emergency workers to handle an attack involving weapons of mass destruction also was pared.

What could be more transparent, arrogant, or dishonest? Follow the money. Does Bush really feel that our country is in danger? No! That's a BIG N - O! His sole purpose is simply the expansion of executive power! The War against The Terrorists Who Are Trying To Kill Us is an exaggeration and a blatant manipulation of a real threat for political gain. Follow the money. The Iraq war is not about terrorism or democracy. It's about the Oil.. The Oil! The renewal of the wiretapping legislation is not solely about the War on Terror, it's about gaining power.

At this writing the Democrats in the House of Representatives have withstood this assault on their intelligence and have remained strong in the face of this blatant political attack. That the Senate rolled over so meekly is an indication that the President still thinks he can get away with these tactics. Here's hoping the Democrats in the House finally show some spine.