NSA Controversy In A Nutshell

At the Waterglass:

"Federal courts have consistently ruled that a president has authority under the Constitution to conduct foreign intelligence surveillance against our enemies. Predecessors of mine have used that same constitutional authority," Mr. Bush said.

Yes, but you're using it, Mr. Bush. That's the problem. As long as your political enemies consider you a more dangerous entity than they do a group of murdering fanatics bent on destroying western civilization, you're going to be under attack in this way. Partisan Democrats and civil liberties absolutists don't truly believe we're at war. I'm glad that the people who have the authority to make decisions do.

A week or two back a commeter challenged a liberal to say precisely what he would or would not do to protect this country's security. Apart from the obvious (don't invade Iraq, unless, I guess, the feared French Army was contributing 90% of the troops and airpower), he basically insisted that the Dems would do everything to protect this country as Bush has been doing.

Except they'd be... nicer and less polarizing about it, or something. Prompting the commenter to sum up the liberals' position as:

The Liberal Democratic Party

We'll do everything Bush is doing! But we won't be HITLER!

That's something I've noticed. The left likes to complain that Bush is acting as a dictator, etc., but when you suggest that they wouldn't do as much on security as Bush does, they claim "Oh dear, no, you misunderstand! We'd do everything Bush is doing! Plus maybe a little extra!"

I don't get it. How can you simultaneously be for and against something? The Democrats have had this problem for, ummmm, forever, but especially in the past five years.

You have to take a position at some point, people. You cannot simply perpetually whine about Bush's decisions and then claim "We'd have made the same decisions, only better and smarter." The very fact that you're making these nonsensical, self-contradictory criticisms sort of casts doubt on that "better and smarter" bit.

Thanks to The Blogometer.