Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to Wolf Blitzer:
"Every time (the Bush) administration screws up, whether it's with homeland security, after Katrina, a massive failure even though they spent billions of dollars to make sure that thing wouldn't happen, when they screw up along the border, when they get caught doing illegal surveillance of Americans, they say, well, but 9/11, 9/11.Well, I'd remind them 9/11 happened on their watch. I think Americans are getting fed up with simply using an excuse for your mistakes and classify everything else so that you can't talk about it.
I want us to be safe. I don't think that this administration is doing it the right way..."
(via Atrios)
2 comments:
good for him. 9/11 was 4+ years ago, there is no reason it should still be used as an excuse.
First off, I am NOT a supporter of myriad policies that have been enacted recently. However, I would like for people to use common sense when presenting opposing arguments.
There is no way around the fact that the Senator's words are dumb. It seems that he does not understand that the WHOLE POINT is that 9/11 happened on "their watch." It happened before all these mistakes and illegal activities were taking place. The administration claims that we need to sacrifice liberty for security. This is not a new argument, and one which I believe to be quite straighforward. There is no doubt that if we trade in freedom we will have more security.
What I do not understand is the shock in the American public. This policy is merely and inflated continuation of a long, long history of censorship in this country. If we want to change the way history is advancing at the present time we must look within ourselves and recognize our puritan roots. Only then will we be able to remove them and start over.
Post a Comment