Posted on 01/12/2006 5:20:34 AM PST by mal
Just because Ted Kennedy is busy working on a childrens book about a lovable anthropomorphised character called Splash (thats the name of his Portuguese water dog, not his car) doesnt mean hes not playing his usual incisive role on the Senate judicial committee. Last week he attacked Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito for having been influenced by the Goldwater presidency. This week he was back from his alternative universe and more concerned with actual presidencies. Undeterred by the public outcry, he fumed, the President vows to continue spying on American citizens.
What public outcry? Senator Kennedy is referring to the latest scandal du jour: the National Security Agency has been conducting warrantless surveillance of communications between al-Qaeda types overseas and their contacts in the US. And though the polls on the subject vary a bit, all have produced majorities in favour of the administration. Thats to say, if Im getting calls in New Hampshire from Abu Musab al-Zarkawi, the American people see nothing wrong with the NSA eavesdropping on such calls. Back in President Goldwaters day, there might have been a public outcry. But there isnt now. As George W. Bush put it, with disarming straightforwardness, If somebody from al-Qaeda is calling you, wed like to know why.
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.co.uk ...
Ping!
President Goldwater?
Just because Ted Kennedy is busy working on a childrens book about a lovable anthropomorphised character called Splash (thats the name of his Portuguese water dog, not his car) doesnt mean hes not playing his usual incisive role on the Senate judicial committee.
LOL! You know how those Kennedys hated LBJ
Sigh .... if only.
My thoughts exactly...lol
Mark Steyn is funny and insightful
Maybe its just me but , Kennedy naming a dog splash is a slap in the face to the memory of Mary Jo Kopechne.
The unmitigated Gall of a man who would kill this girl and then name his dog splash is to me unimaginable.
Is he really that stupid?Or is it arrogance?
Ooooh, tough choice, but I'll have to go with #1. Perpetual drunken stupors tend to take their toll on the old brain cells, as evidenced by exhibit A (and you can guess what the "A" stands for).
Yes there is...
Vince!
Greetings from Houston, y'all!
You must have missed the senator's rant. It was he who referred to the Goldwater presidency. Alcoholism can cause such lapses.
Is Splash a rescue dog? Just in case!
Next up on Kennedy's 'to do' list, a book on safe driving.
Just because Ted Kennedy is busy working on a childrens book about a lovable anthropomorphised character called Splash (thats the name of his Portuguese water dog, not his car) doesnt mean hes not playing his usual incisive role on the Senate judicial committee. Last week he attacked Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito for having been influenced by the Goldwater presidency. This week he was back from his alternative universe and more concerned with actual presidencies. Undeterred by the public outcry, he fumed, the President vows to continue spying on American citizens.
What public outcry? Senator Kennedy is referring to the latest scandal du jour: the National Security Agency has been conducting warrantless surveillance of communications between al-Qaeda types overseas and their contacts in the US. And though the polls on the subject vary a bit, all have produced majorities in favour of the administration. Thats to say, if Im getting calls in New Hampshire from Abu Musab al-Zarkawi, the American people see nothing wrong with the NSA eavesdropping on such calls. Back in President Goldwaters day, there might have been a public outcry. But there isnt now. As George W. Bush put it, with disarming straightforwardness, If somebody from al-Qaeda is calling you, wed like to know why.
At this stage, many Democrats will be tearing their hair out: Youre missing the point, you Bush shill! Hes acting unconstitutionally! If he wants to know why al-Qaedas calling you, he needs to go through the FISA court the court that authorises wiretaps and the like.
Actually, its the poor old Democrats who are missing the point. Whether or not the President is required to go through the FISA court (and I dont believe he is) is an arcane point of law. In the broader political narrative, the shorthand of the story is that for the umpteenth time the Dems are keener to extend lavish legal protection to Americas enemies than to hunt them down and kill them. Every time you switch on the news, some bigshot Democrat like Ted Kennedy is effectively proposing yet another generous addition to the al-Qaeda Bill of Rights. Hence, no public outcry.
That big splash you hear isnt Ted Kennedys dog doing a promotional stunt for the book but yet another Democrat dead horse belly-flopping into the Potomac. Undaunted, Senator Barbara Boxer is considering bringing impeachment proceedings against the President. For intercepting the phone calls of terrorists?
Yes, yes, okay, keep your hair on. I mean, of course, impeaching him for unconstitutionally intercepting the phone calls of alleged terrorists. But, even framed in the Democrats terms, the issue is a total bust for them: even if they were right in a narrow legalistic sense, it puts them on the wrong side on the far more critical issue of credibility on national security issues. When Ted Kennedy brought it up as part of his preamble to the Alito hearings, he presumably thought it would be a big plus. That in itself is a poignant illustration of just how out of touch the party and its leaders are.
So let me spell it out: the warrantless wiretap scandal will go nowhere. Judge Alito will be confirmed as a Supreme Court justice. The Republicans will comfortably hold both the House and the Senate in November.
In other words, 2006 will be pretty much a normal year for the administration. Like Splash the dog, the President will run rings around Senator Kennedy.
Im often accused of being a Bush cheerleader, which Im not. Im unhappy with much of his domestic agenda, Im concerned that things arent moving fast enough overseas, and even in those areas where Im in full agreement I get a little irritated at the White Houses lethargic attitude to publicising its successes. But you dont have to like Bush to figure out by this stage that if its a choice between the President or his detractors, bet on the President. At a certain level, a commentator has to recognise reality, and the reality is that Bush is like the monster in an old creature feature: there might well be a silver bullet that will take him out for good but, unless youve got one, standing there and just pumping round after round into him will prove completely ineffectual. The Bushmonster will just swat you aside like a fly and stagger on to terrorise the townsfolk yet again.
For five years, the Democrats and the media have put their faith in one magic bullet after another. Remember Enron? If you dont, dont worry. Nobody else does, except maybe the New York Timess Paul Krugman, who wrote in early 2002 that Enron, not 11 September, will come to be seen as the greater turning point in US society. There have been any number of turning points since then Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, Cindy Sheehan, Hurricane Katrina, all were supposed to scuttle the Bush presidency and all flopped out. In the wake of Katrina, the Guardians Jonathan Freedland wrote, Its safe to say that if George Bush was in his first term, he would now be heading for defeat.
Well, its safe to say it because hes not in his first term, but its still rubbish. As I wrote at the time, There will be no political consequences from Hurricane Katrina. I should have added for the Republicans. Louisiana Democrats are likely to pay a price for state and local incompetence, and, indeed, a St Martinville resident has just launched a recall petition to remove from office the weepy but useless Governor Kathleen Blanco. Even one of the less obviously deranged commentators, the Sunday Telegraphs Niall Ferguson, called it the Bush administrations political nemesis and predicted a back-to-the-1970s slump as gasoline prices in some parts of the United States soared to $5 a gallon. In my part of the United States gas is a smidgeonette over $2 a gallon right now, unemployments below 5 per cent and the Dow Jones this week hit 11,000 for the first time since 9/11. If you were a Continental prime minister, youd love those numbers though the chances of France or Germany ever again seeing unemployment below 5 per cent are far more fantastical than Teddy Kennedys Goldwater presidency.
One of the themes of the post-Iraq period was that the three musketeers of the Anglosphere Bush, Tony Blair, John Howard were all in trouble with angry electorates. As we now know, they all won re-election. Meanwhile, the fellows who opposed intervention in Iraq are floundering: Gerhard Schröder is out of office and is now a frontman for Russias state-owned Gazprom (Its all about gaz!), Jacques Chirac is the lamest of lame ducks, and Canadas anti-Bush Liberal government will lose the election on 23 January. Nothing to do with Iraq in any of those cases except that Iraq is a useful test for how clearly you comprehend the historical moment. And, as with Ted Kennedy and the Democrats, if you dont get Iraq, its unlikely youll get the other currents coursing through the geopolitical scene.
Again, you dont have to be a fan of the present administration to recognise that if you disagree with the Bush doctrine and Washingtons approach to the world, you better have an alternative to offer. A real alternative, that is, not just the usual transnational placebos. There was a hilarious interview in Der Spiegel a few weeks back with Don Rumsfeld, in which the Germans seemed to have forgotten that theyre supposed to be running the show on Irans nuclear ambitions. The US defence secretary observed that all of us have to be concerned when a country that important, large and wealthy is disconnected from the normal interactions with the rest of the world.
The US is trying to make the case in the United Nations Security Council? inquired the chap from Der Spiegel.
I would not say that, said Rumsfeld, mischievously. I thought France, Germany and the UK were working on that problem.
What kind of sanctions are we talking about?
Im not talking about sanctions. I thought you and the UK and France were.
You arent?
Im not talking about sanctions, repeated Rumsfeld. Youve got the lead. Well, lead!
You mean the Europeans? said the bewildered German, still not getting it.
Sure. My goodness, Iran is your neighbour, said Rumsfeld. We dont have to do everything!
We are in the middle of regime change in Germany, spluttered the Spiegel editor.
Thats hardly the phrase I would have selected, remarked Rummy.
Well, we didnt go the unilateral cowboy illegal warmongering route with Tehran. Instead we left it to the European Union and, as a result, Iran will be a nuclear power by the end of the year. Granted, the mullahs arent the easiest negotiators. Heres where they were at back in the summer:
Iran will resume uranium enrichment if the European Union does not recognise its right to do so, two Iranian nuclear negotiators said in an interview published Tuesday.
Got that? If you dont let us go nuclear, well go nuclear. President Chirac warned on Tuesday that it would be a grave error for Iran and North Korea to ignore the international community. But, honestly, would it? They know, even if Chirac doesnt, that there is no international community. It would be a grave error to ignore America and (in the case of Iran) Israel, but the rest you can pretty much ignore with impunity. Unless Chiracs threatening to call in US-led military action, theyve got nothing to worry about.
I would bet that there will be another major terrorist attack in Europe before the end of the year, following Madrid in 2004 and London last year. It wouldnt surprise me if Britain were hit again. There will be more civil disturbances in France, and more emigration from the ever more Islamified Netherlands. In such a climate, it seems preposterous that one of the EUs supposedly reform-minded leaders, Frau Merkel, has decided to make a priority of reviving the corpse of the European constitution. Were living in a rapidly shifting world, and Europe persists in clinging to the old ways.
2006 will mark the fifth anniversary of 9/11 and the third anniversary of the Iraq war. It will not be a quiet year. And Rumsfelds challenge to the Europeans applies to the naysayers at home, too: you dont like the way we do things? Fine, what have you got? When Ted Kennedys finished his book about his talking dog, maybe hell come up with something.
"thats the name of his Portuguese water dog, not his car"
LOL!
Here we go again with the excerpts.
"Is Splash a rescue dog? Just in case!"
Yep, they train Portuguese water dogs to rescue people from the water. Kennedy having one is a case for the psychiatrists.
I think a Saint Bernard with a little barrel hung on its neck would have been more appropriate.
Thanks.
Thanks Pokey!
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