Clarence Page’s column in Thursday’s Eagle has an amazing quote from President Bush from a speech he gave in Buffalo, N.Y., in April 2004 (two years after he had authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on U.S. citizens without a warrant). Bush said: “Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires — a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we’re talking about chasing down terrorists, we’re talking about getting a court order before we do so. It’s important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think ‘Patriot Act,’ constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution.”
As Page wrote, “knowing what we know now, that sounds like the biggest presidential whopper since Bill Clinton assured us that he did not have ’sexual relations with that woman.’”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
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57 Comments
Well, looks like Galahad scooped Page. . .
There is a quality about Clinton, in that he’s able to carry-on as though nothing ever happened. I find myself looking at his face and wondering if he ever thinks about all the stuff he’s done. I don’t see it, and I find myself start to wonder if maybe, just maybe it really never happened. He’s actually gives the appearance of being a nice guy, nice smile, likes to laugh, but not so much as a hint of guilt. Amazing. Truly amazing.
Hmmmm. . . . I certainly wouldn’t mistake Ed for a Clinton fan (ha!), but one has to wonder about this post. It seems a tad out of character.
Will the real Ed Friedemann please stand up?
I caught that quote, too. The “contrast” in then and now can be sharpened considerably when President Bush’s words from 2004 are placed next to his radio address from Saturday before last. Like so:
Bush said: “Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires — a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we’re talking about chasing down terrorists, we’re talking about getting a court order before we do so. It’s important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think ‘Patriot Act,’ constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution.” (Aug 2004)
“…I have reauthorized this program [warrantless searches] more than 30 times since the September the 11th attacks, and I intend to do so for as long as our nation faces a continuing threat from al Qaeda and related groups.”–US President George W. Bush, 17-Dec-2005
;)
Rage, Just a single observation. I’m still no “fan.”
Flike, Between Bush’s lines: “No more constitution.” We’ve got to impeach this nutcase.
“with ties to al-Qaeda” Or: “believed to have ties to terrorism or terrorist organisations” is all the justification Bush needs to circumvent the law.
“Terrorism” is a farce.
I wonder if it’ll make any difference when the average “Joe” finds out what “data mining” really means. When we first started hearing about this, I had high hopes that Bush had finally steped over the line, but now I’m not so sure. I think that no matter what the guy does, half the country thinks he’s the second coming of Christ. You gotta give the republicans credit. If Bush went on live TV and ate a baby, they could spin it as a good thing. That’s what they’re doing now and it seems to be working. It looks to me like the only real outrage is coming from the left and that’s just more of the same old, same old. We’ve been outraged since this prick took office.
XXX
The lousy polls we get are from the MSM. Probably 80% of Americans hate his guts { that number grows everytime they pay for their J-Gas }. Oh, wait, the White House made Sharon declare that he’s not going to attack Iran, which, if believed, will bring down crude oil with the price of gasoline following.
XXX, Here’s the link. The fact that Israel knows they need to anounce they aren’t attacking tells it all.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A6C07283-4948-4F6F-9962-C2738298A348.htm
Clinton has no guilt because he’s has an antisocial personality. When he was asked why he had an affair with Monica, he replied “Because I could”….how diagnostic.Bush could be the anti-Christ, Clinton’s lack of conscience pales in comparison to him.
…”I have reauthorized this program [warrantless searches] more than 30 times since the September the 11th attacks, and I intend to do so for as long as our nation faces a continuing threat from al Qaeda and related groups.”–US President George W. Bush, 17-Dec-2005
Gee, Does “related groups” include the “boy Scouts” or just anybody you deem necessary?
Doesn’t sound like America to me, how about you?
What that lame dummy Clinton did to dear plump Monica I’m doing to all you dumb Americans. I just ain’t using a cigar. Don’t worry about your constitional rights …. were doing it patriot act style!
Don’t believe me …. ask Plame!
The master of deception!The master of disaster!Dubya! (W) (UU)
Where would Bush be without “terrorism?”
Making peace with the Arabs is simple. “Terrorism” would go away as Arabs themselves would take care of that.
But where would that leave Bush and Sharon? They would be out of the business of terrorism.
And it is a business.
Okay, Ed. The decided lack of cynicism threw me off. But I guess you’ve shown signs of idealism in the past.
Ed, I stand by my numbers and count them conservative. A lot of Americans are just plain stupid.Example:
“According to a new poll published today by the Wall Street Journal, war-related myths continue linger in the public’s mind.
* 41% of poll respondents said Saddam Hussein had “strong links” with Al Qaeda. This is down from 64% who believed this 10 months ago.
* 22% said Hussein helped plan and support the hijackers who attacked the United States on 9/11. In February 2005, 47% believed this. (Complicating matters in the more recent poll, an additional 30% said they were “not sure” if this is true or not.)
* 26% said Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when the U.S. invaded. That’s down 10 points since February.
* 24% said several of the hijackers who attacked the U.S. on September 11 were Iraqis. Ten months ago, 44% believed this. (In case you’ve forgotten, the actual number of Iraqi hijackers on 9/11 is zero.)”
Wouldn’t it be interesting to poll the neocons on this site?
And if you’re really stupid, chances are you get your news from Fox.
http://truthout.org/docs_03/100403F.shtml
“Wouldn’t it be interesting to poll the neocons on this site?”
That kinda reminded me of this:
http://www.workingforchange.com/comic.cfm?itemid=19635
Great find, Rage. And just a little scary.
If it wasn’t for Bush being a liar and a dickless twit, this would be one boring blog.
Thanks XXX.
Here’s another thing: I could have linked directly to the NYT on THIS, but I thought Billmon nicely summed it up:
http://billmon.org/archives/002350.html
What if Aunt Mabel is a vegan?
By the way, Ed, I have my own problems with the “MSM,” but I’ve seen the alternative media spectacularly screw up, too (albeit usually for very different reasons). Caveat viewor is my motto for them all.
Ah, the Whiskey Bar! It used to be a daily stop till he started posting irregularly or not at all. I’ve been following the story about spying on war protesters, PETA, Catholics, vegans, et al.
I remember when we used to be a nation of laws…..
Bill Clinton lies about a bj and the Republicans impeach him. Bush lies about National Security, torture, war, spying, and the Republicans Deify him.
what does little george have in mind for our country…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-smiley/a-tenstep-program_b_12451.html
Where does one go for reliable news on TV these days? I used to watch World News International, but they’re no longer on my cable service. I can’t stomach CNN or FOX with all the “entertainment” news and hysterics. Link TV is too far left. Where does one go for unbiased fact reporting without all the hype?
JohnDoe#2,I read your link. I wonder if it’s already too late? They already have control of the voting machines.
Is anybody surprised that the administration is now conducting an investigation to find out who told the American public the truth about their illegal wiretaps and other surveillance?http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1456120
Damoon,the operative term is “TV”. “Reliable news on TV” is probably an oxymoron since TV by it’s nature is aimed at the lowest common denominator. It’s all about marketing, not the dissemination of real news. We see that every time some blonde white girl dissapears. Scott Peterson? Michael Jackson anyone? Stories that dominated TV news for months. Meanwhile, the real story, the corporate take-over of America (who by the way, own the news outlets on TV), goes unreported. IMHO, the best news outlets are the newspapers. They have their problems, but in the end, that’s where all the best reporting comes from. While they’re far from perfect, they’re far better than the Pablum spewing news outlets on TV.
XXX,Ooooo . . . THEY control the voting machines: Paranoia anyone? This is and always will be voting shenanigans as long as there are elections. The implied reference to the Bush presidential election is getting way stale. Get over it!
John Doe #2,I read the Huffington Post, and this woman, while writing some interesting things, really writes lousy. Her constant misuse of the word “that” nearly drove me crazy. If her site is an example of today’s journalist, we are in trouble, grammar wise. I don’t by any means hold myself to be a grammatical wiz, but for someone, such as herself, to foist that kind of writing on the general public, is a problem.
I like what she has to say, but she needs to learn how to write it correctly.
Da,I say, turn off the telly, and switch to print media. At least I don’t have to wait for the ads to finish, and not having some pretty face tease me with bits of news only to tell me to wait until 11 o’clock, or a loud Neanderthal torture me to buy his “practically free” cars.
You would think that context might be something important to take into account when qouting people.
Unfortunatley for the Wichita Eagle and many of you bloggers who will do or say anything to discredit Bush this is not true.
Was Bush not talking about the Patriot Act when he was talking about getting a court order for wiretaps?
Now you are using that qoute out of context to try to show how he is contradicting himself when he issued an executive order to the NSA to do whatever it is that executive order authorized.
I’m really glad that we have Nathan to tell us what to think. Without him, none of us would have a clue.
“Quoting people out of context.” Yeah, I never would have thought of that. He always manages to stay one step ahead.
Walker,”The implied reference to the Bush presidential election is getting way stale. Get over it!”
Implied reference? It wasn’t even on my mind. Straw man, anyone?
Of course there’s nothing to worry about when the chief executive of Diebold Inc pledges to deliver votes.
“The head of a company vying to sell voting machines in Ohio told Republicans in a recent fund-raising letter that he is “committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year.”http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0828-08.htm
Yes, I guess paranoia is the only explination for being worried about the accuracy of voting machines. How could I have been so stupid?
” University researchers delivered a serious blow to the current crop of electronic voting systems in an analysis of one such system’s source code in which they concluded that a voter could cast unlimited ballots without detection.”http://news.com.com/2100-1009_3-5054088.html
“I read the Huffington Post, and this woman, while writing some interesting things, really writes lousy. Her constant misuse of the word “that” nearly drove me crazy.”
That comes from a guy who doesn’t know how to use the words “Then” and “Than” in a post. When you don’t have a legitimate point, always attack spelling or grammar.
How am I doin, Bro?
I too read John Doe#2’s link and found myself wondering, what if this is not the rantings of some paranoid?
Was Smiley (the huffingtonpost blogger) wrong about:
* the Bush hostility toward government* the constant pandering to their base – especially in the form of money and political favor*Bushco has been incredibly financially irresponsible in starting a war and cutting taxes
Can the Bush apologist droids deny or spin any of these facts?
The first thing that needs to happen is that Karl Rove needs to be indicted. Who cares if he is guilty of the Plame affair. He is guilty of steering the country to and on its current course. Having Karl out of the Whitehouse will go a long way toward restoring this country to its people.
Where are you Patrick Fitzgerald?
Who ever leaked the un-warrented eavesdropping story should get a Presidential Medal — bet they won’t during this administration, but will during the next, if there is one.
God help America.
One burning question I have, is how has this administration managed to keep so many people (and maybe they are a shrinking number) as supporters of them? 41% of the population can’t be idiots. Is it that they are too busy working their two jobs, that they don’t have time to notice?
XXX,No, in fact you are way off base. If you think that voting machines are rigged, by all means, don’t vote. That will show them no good voting machine manufacturers. Don’t need their machines to do your voting for you. Is that Bush looking over your shoulder? (That’s a rhetorical question: he is.)
“I don’t by any means hold myself to be a grammatical wiz,” I believe I qualified my statement in that one portion of a sentence. I do make mistakes, and will admit them. Unlike most, if not all, liberals, I make no claim to perfection?
I do believe, though, my writing has improved via the web site I post my poetry and stories on. The feedback I get allows me to do so. And not being perfect, I will always have room for improvement.
I still think the writer, who claims so many titles, including journalist, should write clearly and distinctly; she doesn’t. And as I said, and I know this is redundant but necessary, I like what she has to say.
“When you don’t have a legitimate point, always attack spelling or grammar.” Exactly what legitimate point did I miss? Or are you just having a “J M” day?
Please, feel free to inform me when you have reached Nirvana, and I will start immediately praying either to you or for you . . . your choice. Personally, I’ll resist all efforts by my libido to visit the place:-)
“How am I doin, Bro?” Right back attcha!
Adolf was a mastermind at disinformation, religion, and fighting terrorism. After a while, the whole world found out this right wing conservatitive was an anti-christ. Dare history repeat itself?
Walker,”No, in fact you are way off base.”
You just throw that out there? How am I off base? A simple google search shows that a lot of people share my concern. Thinking people would. You don’t think I should vote? That would serve the republican agenda, wouldn’t it? Are you sure you’re not a closet republican? Thankfully, Diebold hasn’t invaded my precinct (yet).
“Is that Bush looking over your shoulder? (That’s a rhetorical question: he is.)”
Well DUH! With my website history and my email exchange with a friend in Iraq, I’m sure I’m on somebody’s list.
“I do believe, though, my writing has improved via the web site I post my poetry and stories on. The feedback I get allows me to do so.”
Nice plug. Does that pay pretty good?
“I still think the writer, who claims so many titles, including journalist, should write clearly and distinctly; she doesn’t. And as I said, and I know this is redundant but necessary, I like what she has to say.”
I think she made her point quite well. Isn’t that the point?
“Please, feel free to inform me when you have reached Nirvana, and I will start immediately praying either to you or for you . . . your choice. Personally, I’ll resist all efforts by my libido to visit the place:-)”
Whaaaat???? Which planet did that come from? An attempt at humor? Cunning? Is there an answer to that, or is this like Jepardy where I have to figure out the question from the answer? Talk about a JM day, LOL!
Achoo too!
Doctor Slaughter?Geeze, another one. How many people can one person be? Somebodies got a multiple personality disorder.
Hitler? A right-wing conservative? He might have been an anti-christ, but RWC? I suppose that makes Stalin a liberal. God, where do you idiots come up with this tripe?
I’m really glad that we have XXX to tell us what to think. Without him, none of us would have a clue.
“A simple google search shows that a lot of people share my concern. Thinking people would.” Yeah, I never would have thought of that. He always manages to stay one step ahead.
Is that the only thing you have to say to a comment Steve?
er…XXX,”You don’t think I should vote?” You kinda said so in your own post: “They already have control of the voting machines.” Kinda sounds a bit paranoid to me, bro. Kinda like posting under a myriad assortment of names:-) Of course there are a lot of people concerned; there are a lot of people that still believe in the tooth fairy too.
As I said earlier (here comes the redundant part again), There will always be voting irregularities as long as there is voting . . . duh (to use your choice of words). If you are afraid some electronic voting machine is going to swap your vote someplace in the deep recesses of the electronic jungle, that’s paranoia in my book.
“Nice plug. Does that pay pretty good?” Actually, it pays nothing but the satisfaction that I’m doing something I enjoy. As for the plug: what did I plug other than (not then) the fact I post on the net with no reference to what site or sites. Doesn’t seem like much of a plug to me, does it?
Evidently, you still missed my point: A person who claims many titles, including, but not limited to, journalist,columnist, critic and independent candidate for Governor of California, especially should write well. It is a matter of using the college degree she earned. It is also denigrating the English teachers who taught her. Or is she just a product of dumbing down of America? I’m sure you can figure that out, though. You can, can’t you?
“Whaaaat???? Which planet did that come from? An attempt at humor? Cunning? Is there an answer to that, or is this like Jepardy where I have to figure out the question from the answer? Talk about a JM day, LOL!” Jepardy? Need I say more? Chortle, chortle!
Er, Walker,”You don’t think I should vote?” You kinda said so in your own post”
Not at all. How does questioning the security of voting machines equate with not voting? That’s quite a leap. But if it serves your purpose….
“As I said earlier (here comes the redundant part again), There will always be voting irregularities as long as there is voting . . . duh”
Well, that makes it ok in your book then? What’s a little fraud among friends, right?
“I’m sure you can figure that out, though. You can, can’t you?”
Ah, the insult. Veiled, of course. If you can’t win the discussion, just throw out a couple of insults. Since I dissagree, I must lack the intelectual capacity to understand. Personally, I try to avoid insulting my friends.
” Jepardy? Need I say more? Chortle, chortle!”
Actually, no. I think you’ve said quite enough already. I believe I’ll just let this discussion die the unnatural death it so richly deserves.
G…XXX?You are correct for a change. (imagine that!) This discussion should die an unnatural death. Your penchant for taking things out of context, a favored liberal ploy, makes further meaningful discussion into something bordering on the impossible.
Me? I think I’ll go read Ann Coulter’s latest column, http://www.anncoulter.org/cgi-local/welcome.cgi, and do some serious chortling:-)
Click on your link, brainiac.
Oh, goody! Grammar time!
“I do make mistakes, and will admit them.”See anything wrong with the punctuation in that sentence? (HINT: comma)
“I do believe, though, my writing has improved via the web site I post my poetry and stories on.”And yet another. What’s wrong with this sentence? Let’s try it again JM. *I do believe, though, my writing has improved via the web site on which I post my poetry and stories.* Tsk tsk for ending a sentence with a preposition.
Now let’s be serious. Yes, I was only teasing, but to make a point. Those who write books have editors. It’s the job of the editor or copy editor to correct grammar and punctuation. They are paid good money to do it. I’ve seen far worse mistakes by people who should be in the know and/or are far more educated than many of us. Remember Mirecki’s email? Unfortunately, many casual writers fall into the trap of using more common language. Journalism seems to fall in this area. For instance, the “that” you spoke of has become a commonly misused word. I’m guilty of it, too.
But I can deal with a lot of things as long as I don’t hear, “Where’s it at?”
Time to skip on over to Arianna’s site and see what all the real hubbub is about. Have a wonderful New Year’s Eve, everyone!
XXX,”Click on your link, brainiac.” Of course it leads nowhere: it’s Ann Coulter. Now you know why I’m Chortling:-)RD,”Tsk tsk for ending a sentence with a preposition.” Not quite the death knell (that) most think. But it was in fun and nothing else. You are correct in pointing out (that) she has editors to correct her mistakes. I misuse ‘that’ also, but still, it bothers me to read someone with her credentials misuse it so badly. I wonder, though, if it isn’t a problem creeping into society.
When I misuse it in my writing, I get called to task . . . every time. And the preposition? Some of the people who critique my work say no, others say it is not a problem as long as it is not used extensively. Kind of like the passive sentence. So I try to limit both.
Winston Churchill made up this sentence to demonstrate the rather odd sentence constructions one ends up with by following the “no preposition at the end of a sentence” rule:
“This is the sort of pedantry up with which I will not put.”
Nathan, Steve is our resident bot. Ignore it.
I’m sure glad we have Steve here to tell us what to think. Without him, we’d be freed of his annoying-as-hell disruption.
Wish I had a life,
Steve
Good one, Brian.
You’ve probably heard about the Kansasan who was visiting the Harvard campus the first day after being accepted there. The Kansasan goes over to a professorial looking guy and asks:”Where’s the Library at?”
The professorial type replys:”We, at Harvard, do not end our sentences with prepositions. Perhaps you would like to try that question again?”
Taken aback, the Kansas ponders and says:”Ok . . . where is the library at, asshole?
Should have been “Kansan” – sorry.
Another one who’ll never make it at Harvard.
Rage, what is a “resident bot”?
It’s some jerk who’s using a program (a “bot”) to annoy people, hence the canned, pointless responses.
It’s some jerk who’s using a program (a “bot”) to annoy people, hence the canned, pointless responses.
Steven,
:-))
Thanks.