The Leader isn't protecting us and keeping us safe

I could not have put this any better than Glenn Greenwald. 1) The President refuses to sign an extension to FISA because he doesn't get EVERYTHING he wants, i.e., retroactive immunity for his pals at the telecoms who likely illegally collected information on you and me; 2) He lets it expire... holding his breath until he turns blue... but saying it's "our fault" or "the Democrats" fault; and 3) FURTHER... he instructs the Republican house members to vote against extension of the FISA Act !!!!

It's no one's fault if we're less safe than this President's. And it's HIS administration (no one else's) where planes were flown into buildings even WITH advance warning from our nation's security people... he continued to read a book to an elementary class while it was all happening; he let Bin Laden escape and continues to let him live in the hills of Pakistan. YET he tells us Armageddon is coming. Perhaps if he could make one correct decision based on the ACCURATE information he was given ahead of time.

I hope the House Democrats have the fortitude to hold their ground, unlike some of the House Democrats.(Keystone)

Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com
Saturday February 16, 2008 11:45 EST

(updated below - Update II - Update III)
According to the President and his followers, we will be -- as of the stroke of midnight tonight -- no longer safe, no longer protected, no longer snug and secure in the strong and loving arms of our Federal Government. That's because the Protect America Act -- a law which has only existed for six months yet is now indispensable to America's ability to survive and avoid being slaughtered by the Terrorists -- expires tonight.

The President himself this morning dramatically intoned: "At the stroke of midnight tonight, a vital intelligence law that is helping protect our nation will expire." Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell gravely pointed out: "What will happen at midnight tonight is much more significant than stump speeches, steroids or superdelegates. On Sunday, the terrorist tracking program . . . no longer will be fully operational." National Review warrior and all-around tough guy Andy McCarthy fretted: "When the Clock Strikes Midnight, We Will Be Significantly Less Safe."

This is one of the most bizarre propaganda dramas ever, even when weighed against other Bush Terrorism propaganda dramas of the past. There is one reason, and one reason only, that the Protect America Act expired. Its name is "George W. Bush." That is who refused to agree to the Democrats' offer to extend the law by 21 days (or longer), then repeatedly threatened to veto any such extension ("US President George W. Bush on Wednesday vowed to veto another temporary extension of a domestic spying law"), then directed the always-obedient House Republicans to vote unanimously against the extension, which they (needless to say) did. This vital-to-our-safety piece of legislation expired only because George W. Bush repeatedly blocked its extension.

It's just that simple.

All of the right-wing war cheerleaders who will be rendered sleepless as of midnight tonight, petrified that the Muslims who normally lurk menacingly on their corners will now be free to spring attacks since we now live under FISA (1978-8/2007) rather than the PAA (8/2007-2/2008), have only the Warrior-Protector Commander-in-Chief to blame for making us all so very "unprotected and unsafe." And George W. Bush's (absurd) claim this morning that, as of midnight tonight, "it will be harder for our government to keep you safe from terrorist attacks" amounts to a confession that he has deliberately chosen to make us all Unsafe because he is the one who single-handedly ensured the death of this Vital Intelligence Tool. This is an extremely straightforward, clear and indisputable fact which even our national press corps ought to have no trouble conveying.