by Douglas DeBono, 2006

ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED AT StandingOrders.BlogSpot.Com, January 17, 2006

A mind is a terrible thing to waste, or so the campaign jingle goes. In Al's case, he appears to have lost his.

Yesterday he blasted the Bush administration's use of wire taps and the National Security Agency's pursuit of terrorists. Please understand I am not here to defend the Bush Administration. There are many things I vehemently disagree with them when it come to domestic spending and standing up to the Senate cry babies. Nor am I very keen on the idea of the government spying on us and invading our personal liberties.

However, we are at war.

War is that 3 letter word. Presidents don't always make the best decisions in war time. Consider FDR's internment of Japanese Americans, or Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus.

To suggest that Slick Willy's Administration did not execute wire taps or dance in the gray space between right and wrong when confronting terrorism is ludricrous. Now we might debate the effectiveness of treating terrorism as a law enforcement exercise. We might wonder what they were thinking when they did employ military force. But to act like the idea never entered the collective mind is shameful.

Unfortunately, this war will outlast the Bush Administration, and that leaves us with a problem. Do we dare turn over national security to a party that hems and haws about al Qaeda rights and Gitmo detainees? Do we drink the Koolaide and elect a Clinton, Dean or Gore?

The democratic party seems to act like nothing hapened on September 11th. Well, something did happen, and I want to make sure it doesn't happen again.