Just try coming here with a few facts and the truth once and awhile. (and thanks for the support Semantic, look for my take on Bubble this Thursday!)

Shortly LA weekly will dwarf Latimes in readership. Thanks for the
link. Been lookin’ for your stuff.

Not at all. I’m redesigning. In the meantime you can always find my latest here: http://www.laweekly.com/index.php?option=com_lawcontent&Itemid=136

When I say something I can and will back it up. You can’t.

All the grandstanding or hallalujahs would go away if closed hearings.

But the antiseptic nature of sunlight cannot be disputed. Sunburn?

Maybe. But I still think the truth is the best medicine. How to get at

it? Tough call. Perhaps a closed hearing with non-elected, bi-partisan

types (9-11 commission) doing any security redacting, then publish

or perish.

As you know, politics courses throughout every aspect of human life.

I agree it should now be used as a partisan issuem but I don’t agree

that we should ‘just make it legal’ because I don’t know what they’re

doing and they have not earned trust. Apparently a lot of pressure

is being put on republicans to ‘tow the line’ by withholding money

and support from those who refuse. They (WH) may think they are

right. and maybe they are. This wound is becoming infected and

the patient is in mortal danger if we don’t drain and clean it.

You could, for instance, require that the license to for say ‘immeediate’ warrants for suspected terrorist activity expires each year - to be renewed or not by a bi-partisan Congressional committee.

And I suppose, but highly doubt per Gen hayder, that the committee could conclude the spying on Ts is doing no good.

Dugger

“Put it behind us” sounds very much like… um, er, uh… “Move on.”

So…, I trust you were as ambivalent during the 1990’s Whitewater and presidential blow-job investigations?

What concerns me is why this is a partisan issue. Why not make a non-finger pointing decison and move on. If its judged illegal, pass laws to make it legal ASAP and put it behind us. I have little patience for those who are using this issue, like the Plame thing, merely as a partisan political pretext.

Dugger

The good news is, I can read YOUR dreck anytime I want to!

http://daysofthelocust.blogspot.com/

Though I noticed that you stopped linking to your site, so maybe you are beginning to see the benefits of anonymity……LOL

Like I said before, not like I am going to give you yahoos my name and address!

And I hate to say it, I was at a medical conference…presenting a paper! Sorry you missed me…..

Or are you going to claim that you have no time and disappear for 2 days?

Take all the time you need. Disappear for six months or more (hint) if that’s what it takes. Chop chop!

You have moved the goal post.

See, I DO have a hard time keeping up with the galloping paranoia and conspiracy theories….thanks for connecting the dots.

However, I bet we can find a few good arabic translators for the NSA. We may not have enough to go through every document we get from Iraq, but probably can break some free for a presidentially ordered tap.

I guess you are the one whose life is really affected by abject, uncontrollable fear eh?

What was that you were saying about “goal posts”?

You have moved the goal post.

Not even an inch.

We may not have enough to go through every document we get from Iraq, but probably can break some free for a presidentially ordered tap.

Your assumptions may provide you some comfort. They offer none for me.

sounds like a bad case of angst…..

ask your doctor about upping your meds…

Don’t get tired of extracting yourself from Quaker’s beartrap?

OK, here ya go:

If we’re only listening in on conversations with members of al Qaeda, you might guess that a good part of the time, they’ll be speaking Arabic.

If we’re listening in on the conversations of people who speak Arabic, we must have people to listen who understand Arabic and can translate it into English.

If we have people who can understand Arabic and translate it into English, their services must have been acquired within the last four years. If you recall, there was a backlog of wiretapped and taped conversations in Arabic that had not been translated when the 9-11 attacks occurred.

On the other hand…

If we haven’t acquired the services of Arabic-speaking translators, the assertion that the purpose of the NSA program is to listen to al Qaeda members starts to smell a little fishy.

Is that clear enough for you?

Can’t really refute your counter argument. Who does decide? There is risk either way. Any of us, myself certainly included, who says we have a corner on this issue or that we have it all figured out, is full of it. You have to weigh the principal as you raise the point against against the security issue. And I would, with trembling and quaking, go with the security side in this case.
IMO thats why debate on site like this can be misleading. None of us really know - hell, either side could be right, for the wrong reasons - as judged by how things turn out - or neither.

But I dont accept any bogeyman theories either side. Bush is not out be an evil king and Dems do want us to be safe.

Dugger