Posted on 06/12/2002 5:19:42 AM PDT by Elkiejg
Cowboys, in the scornful imaginings of East Coast liberals, are simple-minded guys who are too quick to reach for their six-guns. Real life cowboys were pretty good poker players. So is the Texas "cowboy" in the White House, as Democrats who were trying to take partisan political advantage of Sept. 11 have learned to their sorrow. Bush saw them and raised them, and he's holding the aces.
Bush's proposed Department of Homeland Security is the largest and most important government reorganization since Harry Truman pushed the National Security Act of 1947, which unified the military services in the Department of Defense, and created the Central Intelligence Agency.
Though sweeping in scope, little in the plan is original. A consolidation of border security agencies had been proposed in two widely ignored commission reports in 1999 and 2000, and the Bush plan is similar to a bill introduced by Sens. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa).
Bureaucratic reshuffling, in and of itself, does little to protect us from terror, and can be a distraction to those who are performing this critical task. What really matters is that sufficient people and resources be devoted to the task, and that managers be held accountable for their performance.
But organizations have consequences. Most of the people in the border security agencies are decent, patriotic, hard-working men and women who are as frustrated as you and I with bureaucratic stovepiping, incompetence, and inertia. But currently they work in departments where security is an afterthought.
An immediate benefit of the reorganization will be to get the Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Administration out from under Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta, who - by making air travel more bothersome and expensive without making it more safe - is presiding over incipient disaster.
Putting the Transportation Security Administration into a larger agency with a broader perspective could put some boundaries on the empire-building of TSA Administrator John Magaw, who has been raping the Border Patrol and the Secret Service to build up a largely superfluous air marshal force.
A Bush trait which is sometimes a virtue and sometimes a vice is his loyalty to people, even when their performance has been sub-par. When Bush picked Mineta to be the lone Democrat in his Cabinet, he couldn't have known the job he gave him would become important. By taking the Coast Guard and TSA out of Transportation, he limits the ability of Mineta to do harm without publicly embarrassing him.
The Bush plan is sound in concept and bold in scope. What is most impressive about it is that it was prepared without word of it leaking. It's nice to know our government can keep some secrets.
The Bush plan is even better politics. It guarantees Congress will do little else for the remainder of this session except work on homeland security, denying Democrats opportunity to raise issues about which they'd rather talk.
Democrats can either agree with Bush on homeland security, which won't help them politically; or oppose him, which likely will hurt, since opinion surveys indicate more than 70 percent of Americans support the Bush plan.
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) especially has to be squirming. If he pushes homeland security through the Senate this session, he'll be handing Bush a major triumph. If he doesn't, Democratic "obstruction" in a "do-nothing" Senate will be a major issue in the elections this November.
Serves him right for his cheesy attempt to imply Bush was negligent on Sept. 11.
Democrats like Lieberman and Rep. Jane Harman (D-Cal) who have been pushing for a Department of Homeland Security can feel, with justification, that Bush has "stolen" their issue. But that's the prerogative of presidents. Now Democrats know how Republicans felt when Bill Clinton embraced welfare reform.
Bush should lavish praise on Lieberman and Harman, and have them over to the White House to consult on details. It's the right thing to do, and it's good politics. I'm sure the Democrats will be happy to come. But I don't think they'll want to play cards with their host while they're there.
Perfect, just fu**ing perfect.
Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk...
He knows the East Coast establishment thoroughly and, seeing them for exactly what they are, has rejected its invidious aspects (those most cherished by liberals) in favor of the (vastly richer and more to be respected) American Heartland.
You know that smarts!
George Bush has repudiated East Coast liberals and everything they stand for--and such a vetch, especially one issued by a man who knows them thoroughly--and could so easily be one of them if he so chose--must be bitter indeed.
No wonder they grope so ceasingly--and against all hope--for some means to discredit him--
And to get even!!
Poor wretches! East Coast liberals would be pitiable if they were just not so loathsome.
This is a great article, and there is nothing untruthful in it. However, the author has a major omission: the power of the 'Rat spin machine. Spin is generated by liars like Dashole, McCauliffe, and CarVILE and amplified by their media fellow travelers. In the American politics equation, this factor is a constant whose absolute value must be calculated.
Don't worry much about that, Jack. W is aware of the stakes, and he's not gonna blow it.
"I'm a loving guy, but I've got a job to do."--George W. Bush, President of the United States of America (after the September 11 massacre)
Excellent point! I must say, I never thought of it that way. He also doesn' t live high on the hog like all of the limousine liberals with their celebrity parties and posh digs. From what I've seen of the Crawford ranch, none of them could stand a day there, especially since there would not be room for their servants.
Did anyone see that? His remarks pissed me off and I surfed on, I wish I had looked to see who it was but I was about to get in the shower. Here we are talking about security of the homeland and this elected piss ant in charge of this crap is concerned about campaining. PRIORITIES????
Maybe this Cowboy will have mercy on them and let 'em keep their underwear.
Or maybe he'll give it to charity. Yeah. I like that better.
Yep. It's time to clean up Dodge.
And strippin' these vermin and running them out of town is a good way to start.
And this guy W--who's as good at cards as he is at gunslinging--is just the Cowboy to do it!
It's gonna be fun watching these bad-guys runnin' bare-ass naked across the dusty planes, trying to hang on to a modicum of dignity!
Actually it's not his smarts so much as it's his recognition of what's the right thing to do, and the gumption to actually do it. Not to mention the fact that he's not afraid to ask God for help.
If you've got that going for you, the "smart" part is secondary.
And if you're a Democrat playing politics against doing the right thing, no amount of smarts will help.
That last point is important: the D's are so busy trying to "beat Bush" that they are automatically opposed to whatever he does, regardless of whether or not it's the right thing. People notice these things, and I think (hope) it'll come back to haunt them come November.
"I'm miffed because W is not a true conservative, and I'm never gonna vote for him again b/c he is adopting liberal agenda...blahblahblah" Where ARE those purist 'conservative' whiners on this thread?!?!?!
What's the old proverb? "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer!
(Remember: "The White House" rather than some high-falutin' "Imperial Palace" or somesuch? "Mr. President" rather than "Your Divine Royal Majesty" etc.?)
"History is a staircase on which men in hobnail boots ascending pass men in velvet shoes descending."George W. has never traded in his boots for those velvet slippers--though he could well afford a pair--much to the consternation of the "Liberal" establishment.
Neither have the rest of us here in the Heartland! to the horror of those "Liberals" who have enough sense to comprehend the significance of it.
This is a reflection of the American genius.
When the time comes to storm the beaches of Normandy again, we will still be wearing our BOOTS!
This is beyond the comprehension of "Liberals". They slither into their velvet slippers as soon as they possibly can--yet one more reason why they are so disgusting.
Decadence permeates the "Liberal" enclaves of America, where "Liberals" sneak about in their limousines, their private beaches closed to the public, and their velvet slippers--confused, cynical, hateful, and mendacious.
The American spirit is alive and florishing in the Heartland--Bush Country! We're working hard--completely comfortable in our hobnail boots. And we intend to keep it that way.
The article also pointed out Bush's reluctance for such a reorginization.
This reluctance, along with the hastiness with which the plan came together, leads me to think that Bush realized that he needed to get out in front of Congress so that he could control the details of the reorginization.
And just last year [2000], the National Commission on Terrorism — chaired by former Reagan counterterrorism head Paul Bremer — issued a report with the eerily foreboding image of the Twin Towers on its cover. A bipartisan effort — led by Jon Kyl and Dianne Feinstein — was made to attach the recommendations of the panel to an intelligence authorization bill. But Sen. Patrick Leahy feared a threat to "civil liberties" and torpedoed the effort. After the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole, Kyl and Feinstein tried yet again. This time, Leahy was content with emaciating the proposals instead of defeating them outright. The weakened proposals died as the House realized "it wasn't worth taking up." President Clinton certainly could have encouraged Sen. Leahy to drop his opposition, but he didn't.
Another great article on the subject can be found at:
Why are you looking to start an argument? You're just as bad if not worse for your comments. At least the conservative die-hards are true in their beliefs. It appears you're a republican die-hard. If the republicans wanted to raise minimum wage, guarantee everyone a "working" salary, cap the price of groceries, cap the price of housing, cap the price of gas, and only allow sub compact cars--I guess you'd agree with them.
I'm sure the die hard conservatives are thinking, yes Bush is a shrewd politician...even better than Clinton. And that's what's causing them so much heartburn. They want a man of conviction not another sleep with your sister politician.
Me, I like Bush. I like some of the things he does and others things I don't. I look at the issue and think through it. If I agree with him great. If not, I don't change my position because a republican president does something for political reasons. In the end it *may* work out for us in the long wrong. And that is something we'll have to wait for to see what happens.
I'm holding out for the off year elections. If we get the senate back and hold on to the House then I'll say GW had a great plan. If it fails...I'll have to say it stunk and I expect some more conservative positions from him. It all hinges on the 2002 elections.
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