GOP Hits Back at Al Gore on Wiretapping [It's Gonna Leave A Mark Alert]

News Max ^ | Jan. 17, 2006 | Carl Limbacher

[conservativecorner]

Former Vice President Al Gore's assertion that President Bush "repeatedly and persistently" broke the law by eavesdropping on Americans without a court warrant did not fall on deaf ears in Washington, D.C.

In fact, the Republican National Committee swiftly reacted to the loser of the 2000 presidential election, with RNC press secretary Tracey Schmitt stating:

"Al Gore's incessant need to insert himself in the headline of the day is almost as glaring as his lack of understanding of the threats facing America. While the president works to protect Americans from terrorists, Democrats deliver no solutions of their own, only diatribes laden with inaccuracies and anger."

The RNC then showed why Gore's comments are hard to swallow, providing these insightful reminders:

Story Continues Below

Once Upon A Time, Gore Talked Tough About Cracking Down On Terrorists: In 1999, Vice President Gore Declared: "Hear Me Well - We Will Fight The Reckless Violence Of Terrorism And We Will Never Yield To Terrorism, Ever." (Joe Carroll, "Clinton Exhorts Parties to Surmount Last Hurdle," The Irish Times, 3/18/99)

At A 1996 Counter-Terrorism Event Gore Said: "The Bottom Line Is That President Clinton And I And The Members Of This Commission Have Pledged To The Families Of The Victims Of Terrorism That We're Going To Take The Strongest Measures Possible To Reduce The Risk Of Another Tragedy In The Future." (Al Gore, White House Briefing, 9/5/96)

Clinton/Gore Administration Used Warrantless Searches: Clinton Administration Deputy Attorney General Jamie S. Gorelick: "(T)he Department Of Justice Believes, And The Case Law Supports, That The President Has Inherent Authority To Conduct Warrantless Physical Searches For Foreign Intelligence Purposes And That The President May, As Has Been Done, Delegate This Authority To The Attorney General." (Deputy Attorney General Jamie S. Gorelick, Permanent Select Committee On Intelligence, U.S. House Of Representatives, Testimony, 7/14/94)

In 1994, President Clinton Expanded The Use Of Warrantless Searches To Entirely Domestic Situations With No Foreign Intelligence Value Whatsoever. In A Radio Address Promoting A Crime- Fighting Bill, Mr. Clinton Discussed A New Policy To Conduct Warrantless Searches In Highly Violent Public Housing Projects." (Charles Hurt, "'Warrantless' Searches Not Unprecedented," The Washington Times, 12/22/05) "One Of The Most Famous Examples Of Warrantless Searches In Recent Years Was The Investigation Of CIA Official Aldrich H. Ames, Who Ultimately Pleaded Guilty To Spying For The Former Soviet Union. That Case Was Largely Built Upon Secret Searches Of Ames' Home And Office In 1993, Conducted Without Federal Warrants." (Charles Hurt, "'Warrantless' Searches Not Unprecedented," The Washington Times, 12/22/05)

President Bill Clinton: "(T)he Attorney General Is Authorized To Approve Physical Searches, Without A Court Order, To Acquire Foreign Intelligence Information For Periods Of Up To One Year ..." (President Bill Clinton, Executive Order 12949, "Foreign Intelligence Physical Searches," 2/9/95)

Meanwhile, Polling Shows Americans Support President Bush's Decision On Wire Tapping: "(A Rasmussen Reports Survey Found) Sixty-Four Percent (64 percent) Of Americans Believe The National Security Agency (NSA) Should Be Allowed To Intercept Telephone Conversations Between Terrorism Suspects In Other Countries And People Living In The United States … Just 23 percent Disagree." (Rasmussen Reports' Web site, http://www.rasmussenreports.com, Accessed 1/6/06)

Eighty-One Percent (81 percent) Of Republicans Believe The NSA Should Be Allowed To Listen In On Conversations Between Terror Suspects And People Living In The United States. That View Is Shared By 51 percent Of Democrats ..." (Rasmussen Reports' Web site, http://www.rasmussenreports.com, Accessed 1/6/06)

The FISA Court Does Not Provide Flexibility Needed To Fight The War On Terrorism: President Bush: "(T)he (9/11) Commission Criticized Our Nation's Inability To Uncover Links Between Terrorists Here At Home And Terrorists Abroad. Two Of The Terrorist Hijackers Who Flew A Jet Into The Pentagon, Nawaf Al Hamzi And Khalid Al Mihdhar, Communicated While They Were In The United States To Other Members Of Al Qaeda Who Were Overseas." (President Bush, Radio Address, Washington, D.C., 12/17/05)

9/11 Commission Report: "On January 15, (2000) Hazmi And Mihdhar Arrived In Los Angeles. ... After The Pair Cleared Immigration And Customs At Los Angeles International Airport, We Do Not Know Where They Went. ... We Do Not Pick Up Their Trail Until February 1, 2000 ..." ("Final Report Of The National Commission On Terrorist Attacks Upon The United States," The 9/11 Commission Report, 7/22/04)

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales: "The Operators Out At NSA Tell Me That We Don't Have The Speed And The Agility That We Need, In All Circumstances, To Deal With This New Kind Of Enemy. You Have To Remember That FISA Was Passed By The Congress In 1978. There Have Been Tremendous Advances In Technology ... Since Then." (Attorney General Gonzales, Press Conference, 12/19/05)

The Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol: "Remember Moussaoui? Remember August 2001? The FBI Wanted To Go To The FISA Court To Get Surveillance Capabilities Based On What They Found On His Computer, And The Justice Department Decided No. Now, The Patriot Act Did Not Change That Standard Of FISA ..." (Fox News' "Fox News Sunday," 12/18/05)

Kristol: "I Wish Bill Clinton Had Done This. I Wish We Had Tapped The Phones Of The People Of Mohammed Atta Here Into The United States If We Discovered Phone Calls From Afghanistan To Him. That Was Why 9/11 Happened. That's What Connecting The Dots Is." (Fox News' "Fox News Sunday," 12/18/05)

9/11 Commission Report: "The Agents In Minnesota Were Concerned That The U.S. Attorney's Office In Minneapolis Would Find Insufficient Probable Cause Of A Crime To Obtain A Criminal Warrant To Search Moussaoui's Laptop Computer. Agents At FBI Headquarters Believed There Was Insufficient Probable Cause. Minneapolis Therefore Sought A Special Warrant Under The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act To Conduct The Search ... FBI Headquarters Did Not Believe This Was Good Enough, And Its National Security Law Unit Declined To Submit A FISA Application." ("Final Report Of The National Commission On Terrorist Attacks Upon The United States," The 9/11 Commission Report, 7/22/04)

Bush Administration's Wiretapping Authorization Has Been Successful: "Officials Have Privately Credited The Eavesdropping With The Apprehension Of Lyman Faris, A Truck Driver Who Pleaded Guilty In 2003 To Planning To Blow Up The Brooklyn Bridge." (Peter Baker, "President Says He Ordered NSA Domestic Spying," The Washington Post, 12/18/05)

[harpu]

WELL DONE...bookmarked for future debates.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Algore changes his voice as much as Michael Jackson changes his face.

[Quilla]

I remember that well, Danae. And they weren't your garden variety subs either, but three kilo class submarines. Mash here for the damning details.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Here's a handy FBI filegate summary:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1559386/posts?page=29#29

Such hypocracy by the left. Amazing.

FRegards....

[uglybiker]

What's with all the caps?

[OPS4]

I wonder if the Feds are following up here?
If not, lets get the ball roling!
Ops4 God Bless America!

In Part 1, "Al Gore's Uncle Whit," yesterday, WorldNetDaily revealed that Gore's uncle and confidant, retired judge Whit LaFon, has been targeted as an alleged drug trafficker by federal and state law enforcement officials in Tennessee.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=17639

[r-q-tek86]

ping

[Range Rover]

Brother Theodore was at least an ENTERTAINING psychotic.

[Graymatter]

Al Gore's assertion that President Bush "repeatedly and persistently" broke the law...did not fall on deaf ears in Washington, D.C.
No sirree! RNC press secretary Tracey Schmitt gave him what-for! Fired a dozen rounds of chihuahua shot right at him!
I don't say President Bush should have given him the undeserved dignity of a response, but somewhere between the two extremes there should be someone smacking Gore down. Someone the average American has heard of, and respects a little.
We have to start thinking how we're going to survive the left wing movement to destroy this country, when George Bush retires. There's a vacuum coming our way, when he's gone.

[Dave Olson]

if anyone has the media/politicians' email lists, it might be a good idea to post it...

And before it's emailed off, it needs to be cleaned up. All those caps are not only unnecessary, they make it difficult to read.

[sweetliberty]

"Al Gore's incessant need to insert himself in the headline of the day is almost as glaring as his lack of understanding of the threats facing America. While the president works to protect Americans from terrorists, Democrats deliver no solutions of their own, only diatribes laden with inaccuracies and anger."

.

[Theo]

I Was Wondering The Same Thing. Kind Of Hard To Read That Way, Hm?

[conservativecorner]

POS Bob BUMP!

[Chode]

The only thing in nature more dense than Depleted Uranium is Algorium.

It is much too dense to be fashioned into a practical weapon, and is so unstable, it will actually go off on unassisted.

Highly embarrassing.

[teddyballgame]

Al forgot to mention that the President, "Betraaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyd" us.

[FlyVet]

41) Aaron Tonken, Hollywood Clintoon fund raiser, convicted of skimming money from charities and using it to pay his credit card bills.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1198474/posts

[sheikdetailfeather]

AlGore is like a Wooden Indian with rabies.

[conservative blonde]

Off your meds again, Al?

[CyberAnt]

Scott was saying mostly the same thing in his WH press conference today. Looks like the repubs are going to start hitting back.

[right right]

I thought he looked like the total idiot........ until he got FAT!!!