Updated below: 10:00PM (still PST for another few hours)
You’ve probably heard that there was a bomb “blast” in Times Square the other day; one that was aimed at a military recruiting station. What you may not have heard is that Oliver North, former USMC Major Lt. Colonel, is blaming that episode on the Democratic Congress. Well, not quite, but he has said that it would have been easier to find out who did it, and perhaps to have prevented it, if Congress would have passed the “Protect America Act” instead of going on vacation.
Ollie. Listen. The PAA has to do with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Do you see the word “Foreign” there Ollie?
I really don’t think that a bomb in Times Square delivered on a bicycle, which destroyed one window and one door, was hatched in Afghanistan and discussed on international telephone wires.
We won’t go into the fact that Ollie is a former Marine and that I served in the Navy. That has profound implications as to my impressions, of course, but we will leave that alone.
I think Ollie has just been a Republican too long.
On a more serious note, a number of pundits have been swooning over the idea of what they posit as a “dream ticket” consisting of Clinton and Obama in November. Clinton is hinting that she would be quite happy to consider Obama as her running mate. That sounds gracious and noble, but I suspect her of ulterior motives; motives which I have not seen mentioned so far.
My thought is that she knows her “slash and burn tactics” are very bad for the party and is trying to bring to her side Obama supporters who want the ugliness to end. If she keeps doing what she’s doing for another six months, McCain wins in November. By holding out the olive branch of Obama as her running mate, she can get the people who want to save the Democratic Party to come to her side since, by doing so, they can still have their guy in the second spot.
We know, of course, that if Obama wins she will never consider the second spot. With Obama as VP we get both of them. What a deal.
Never mind that it’s her that’s causing the ugliness. Never mind that she is the cause of the imminent destruction. She offers to end it by electing her as the candidate and Obama as the running mate.
The bad part is, it may work.
10:00PM Update
Okay the pundits are talking about the plot aspect of this, and they are saying that Obama, and his supporters, are not falling for it. Hooray. For sure I haven't been falling for it, but...
But remember that you read it here first.
Another possibility is that Ollie believes that the "foreign" aspect of the wiretapping act isn't really true.
ReplyDeleteThe other aspect of the wiretapping, after all, conveys retroactive immunity to those who committed federal crimes at the president's request. The argument is that failing to do so might encourage others to think twice when they were asked to break the law in the future... or perhaps even those who are curently committing felonies by, say, wiretapping *all* US citizens?
The White House obviously views the US Constitution as a "pre-911" document that is no longer applicable, and has managed to convince a significant chunk of the US population that the way to "safety" is by establishing a police state. What came of all that anti-soviet / anti-China propaganda we were shown in our youth? We need to star showing it again...
HRC is being very disinginious [sp] in offering the VP slot to BO. It is most likely a calculated political move, and she has no real interest in making BO the VP. I've seen what she describes as "experience"... I just can't believe virtually anything that comes out of her mouth.
ReplyDeleteMy belief is that neither one really wants the other on a shared ticket, both have too big of egos and too much invested to let it go and accept a shared ticket.. on either position.
And the retroactive immunity? Absolutely not. They can choose not to prosecute if they feel that is is better not to or they turn evidence or whatever... but no blankets immunity. The Bush admin is geting more arrogant as they their term ends. I just hope that it doesn't end Jan 19 with blanket blank check pardons. puke choke..