Would You Trust Hillary With the NSA Program?
Posted on February 9, 2006
Today President Bush revealed how we thwarted an attack by Al Qaeda on LA. The success is due to many of the efforts of President Bush. Before this speech, Hillary Clinton made a speech on how Republicans are beating them on the issue of security.
Prior to her talk at Bridgewater College, scheduled for Thursday night, ACLU President Nadine Strossen questioned elements of the Bush administration’s surveillance program by posing an intriguing question.
“If Hillary Clinton were president, would they (conservatives) feel comfortable with (the electronic surveillance program)? I don’t think so,” Strossen said.
Granted, if given the authority over America’s national security apparatus, Sen. Clinton might be tempted to use it to keep track of Bill. However, if President Hillary Clinton had been in office when a 9-11 attack occurred, one assumes she would use the program to listen in on America’s enemies.
The ACLU president said she is worried that the administration would expand warrantless wiretaps to “anti-war activists, environmental groups,” and others.
Right, listening to some environmentalist discuss the travails of the snail darter with another environmentalist more concerned about the White Spotted Owl would make a fascinating day.
“We have to take at face value that the communications the National Security Agency is monitoring meet the proper criteria,” Ms. Strossen said.
True, in a secret government program monitoring terrorists, there has to be an element of trust. But Americans are more trusting of the NSA professionals than, say, the ACLU. The ACLU, after all, is the organization that sent out “monitors” to check on the Minutemen patrolling the southern border and ignored the illegal aliens crossing into this nation. The ACLU always seems to enjoy obstructing law-abiding persons while defending criminals.
The article makes many good points. President Bush is not personally listening to phone calls, it is a program controlled by a government agency trying to protect us. If Hillary were to be President, God forbid, I would still want a program that listened to the phone conversations between traitors and terrorists.
Meanwhile in the real world, the fight between Congress and the Whitehouse over this program seems to be coming to common ground. The real question is can we trust the ability of Congress to keep a secret.
Responding to congressional pressure from both parties, the White House agreed yesterday to give lawmakers more information about its domestic surveillance program, although the briefings remain highly classified and limited in scope.
Big Lizards thinks it is risky, as does Michelle Malkin.
Captain’s Quarters seems more optimistic.
Expect Congress to pass legislation, either through FISA or a new structure, that deals with the collection of intelligence in wartime. As long as impeachment talk stays off the table and Democrats continue exercising a more reasonable tone on the subject, then the White House may play along as long as possible without actually signing it. My prediction will be that in two months, people will have to dig through the archives to even recall why intelligence collection during wartime caused such a stink in the first place.
Regardless of the outcome, whether we can trust Congress not to leak this information is the real question, not some hypothetical question of whether or not we can trust an imaginary democrat President with the program. I trust the program of listening to our enemies, and if we have to endure Hillary as President, I would worry more about her screwing the program up with cumbersome regulations and pandering to the ACLU than I would of actually running the program itself.
Others: Sister Toldjah
» Filed Under ACLU, News, War On Terror
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6 Responses to “Would You Trust Hillary With the NSA Program?”
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I agree with Ms. Malkins’ writting
in her web pages for express my
thoughts of other party attaching President Bush.
Trust and Hillary are two words that have no comparisan. I wouldn’t trust her with junk mail let alone the saftey of this nation.
All it took was the first four words of the title for me to answer, “No.”
I didn’t trust Clinton with bombing Kosovo, but I didn’t make an ass out of myself opposing it.
When the ball drops, whoever the President is, that who you have for the war. Think hard about it before you go vote.
Clinton and trust do not belong in the same dictionary.
The Patriot Law is a good Law.
Hillary Clinton is not a good person. That is the problem we face.
Lets keep the law and ditch Hillary.
Mensa, I am furious about your comment.
Mentioning Hillary and Teddy in the same place made me ill. Have you no compassion? Oh the torture!