Posted on 01/30/2004 8:31:33 PM PST by Recovering_Democrat
I just watched the repeat of a Dennis Miller show from earlier this week. DM interviewed Rudy Giuliani and did his usual commentary. Giuliani made the point about the Patriot Act being a worthwhile tool for a country at war.
But what has really motivated me to post, before I go to bed was the "Varsity" chat time Dennis had with three guests. The guests were former San Fran mayor Willie Brown, Al Gore fashion consultant Naomi Wolf (called a 'social critic'), and conservative author David Horowitz.
After a discussion of the New Hampshire primary, the discussion turned to the Patriot Act. I don't recall how they got into the subject, but the absolute blindness to reality exhibited by Naomi Wolf was stunning. She posited that the Patriot Act is a manipulation of fear by the Bush administration to maintain power over America. She said people were "shut up by fear" to speak out against the war after the Patriot Act became law. She boasted about living 10 blocks from Ground Zero, but still didn't care: the Patriot Act was a clear and present danger to Americans.
Her solution? She wanted us to look at how ISRAEL conducts national security issues: and her assertion (she reminds us she lived in Israel for some time) is that the Israeli government doesn't have a Patriot Act.
Now, this is so damn wrong on so many levels I don't know how to start. But I'll try, even though my eyes and mind are tired at this late hour.
First of all, and most prominently, Naomi Wolf ignores the reality of September 11; she forgets we are at war, like the President has said so many times. She also ignores the reality that several Al Qaeda suspects have already been found within the borders of this country. She doesn't care, apparently, that there have been no instances of the government "spying" on ordinary citizens' library records...instead, when confronted with this fact by Dennis Miller, she says in a spooky voice "We don't know that, do we??"
Naomi also foolishly asserts the President is using the law to manipulate and put fear into America. How easy to assert something, but hard to back up. There is no proof of some sinister "fear plot" in the administration. The Congress overwhelmingly approved the Patriot Act, and will have to approve any extensions. The fantasy that this law is some special edict from the Executive Branch is laughable.
Naomi firmly said people were silenced about their opposition to the war after the Patriot Act was passed. Oh really? The act was passed in October of 2001...does she really think the street demonstrations and lunatics calling G.W. Bush a "terrorist" were shut down by the Patriot Act?? The liberal activists were as loud as ever in protesting the war...you couldn't swing a dead cat in a major city without hitting a Mike Farrell or Janeane Garofalo wannabe.
The attempt to make us sympathetic to her having an apartment 10 blocks from Ground Zero only makes her position that much more sad. She points to ISRAEL as a great example of a democracy that protects the citizens' civil rights. Good God. Israel, as David Horowitz pointed out, has machine guns on 'every corner'. I would've pointed out to the "social critic" Ms. Wolf that Israel also has had dozens of attacks over the past few years--in percentage terms, as Bibi Netanyahu has pointed out, more people than we lost here in America on September 11, 2001.
I was appalled at her apparent total lack of grasp on the reality that she and every other American is a target for a band of lunatic murderers. These terrorists attacked our homeland 3 years ago and would have done so again if they had the capability. She seems to be stuck in dreamland that 9/11 was an isolated event--never to be repeated again. What a foolish thought.
There can be room for dissent and disagreement about how to conduct the war on terror. But the leftists in this country, I believe, have no clue about the threat itself...let alone on how to fight.
What was an extra pair of socks supposed to do for Gore?
What was an extra pair of socks supposed to do for Gore?
Everything you said about Wolfe is true, and she ought to wash her sticky hair, and give about 25 of those pounds to Ann Coulter! ;)
Maybe it says that it's easier to get published, and receive celebrity with a degree of "respect" from the Dems./Liberal establishment if you are a Jewish Princess with little talent and world-political perspective. Maybe.
The vapid girl has the reasoning capacity of a seven year old.
I thought she was Monica's twin sister. ;)
Give him ankles about the size of Hillary's. ;)
[In my best double-secret spooky voice] Nor do we know, Ms. Yettomakesense, it wasn't being done before the Patriot Act, do we? We do know that Newt Gingrich's supposedly protected, cell phone conversation ended up in the hands of (pardon the redundancy) Democrat neer-do-wells.
Damn. That is an EXCELLENT point, pepsi...too bad Horowitz and/or Miller didn't stop her right there and say, "NAOMI! ISRAEL BOMBED IRAQ'S NUCLEAR FACILITY IN OSIRAK IN 1981!! A PRE-EMPTIVE STRIKE! WE ARE FINALLY ADOPTING PROTECTIVE MEASURES AKIN TO ISRAEL'S!"
I remember people screaming bloody murder in 1981, too, "There is no proof that was a weapons lab!! blah blah blah!!" Just like today. Did Israel care? Not one bit. Why? Because protecting their citizens took priority over the politically correct culture.
She's not nuts.
She's just lying.
All of the leftwing morons constantly being paraded by the media who are "in fear" because of the Patriot Act are putting on a show. They are lying to lower public esteem for President Bush.
They are not afraid-except of President Bush, the possibility that he will be reelected, and that he will collapse their judicial supremacy fantasyland.
Don't make the mistake of supposing that you can point out the flaws in an argument that is pure propaganda before it is ever spoken.
It's pure, malicious lies and that's all it is.
Ah yes. I remember Hemingway writing about matadors using hankerchiefs for the same purpose. The big question in those tight fitting pants was whether you wanted to come across as a one- or two-hankerchief man.
Give him ankles about the size of Hillary's. ;)
I suspect the extra pair of socks were used to enhance Algore's "package" on the cover of Rolling Stone.
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