Remember Dubai

Remember when the Bush administration was going to let Dubai Ports take over operations at some American ports and Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer went in front of the cameras and accused George Bush of selling ports to terrorists? Remember how the right went ape and fell for the scam and made complete asses of themselves by behaving as if the President of the United States would actually hand ports over to AlQaida?

Well I think some righties are doing the same kind of crazy stuff in response to the news that the Bush administration has cut a deal with FISA to take over the Terrorist Surveillence Program. Just because lefties like Glenn Greenwald and the media like to do their thing about Bush backing down or whatever is no reason the rest of us have to let the spin doctors run our lives. Sometimes I feel the extremes are just running amuck in this country. One side wants us to lose and the other side refuses to compromise, even for the good of the country. Very tiresome.

Personally I am glad they found a way to make this important program permanent because I am not sure that President Kuccinich would have signed that Executive Order every 45 days. And before the righties get too pissy with the President for doing this they should remember if not for Bush there would not have been such a program in the first place. The idea that he would wake up one morning and decide it is no longer important is assanine.

The best roundup I have seen on this complete with a transcript of the Q&A session with the Justice Department comes from Protein Wisdom. Go check it out if you are interested.

UPDATE: From AJ

The notorious Glenn Greenwald, who will jump to a misconclusion like a penguin takes to cold water, is finally realizing that all his celebrations regarding the NSA terrorist surveillance program were all for naught:

Maybe Bush didn’t back down on wiretaps

Stop celebrating — it’s not yet clear whether the administration really intends to start obeying the law.

By Glenn Greenwald

…

But why might the president have agreed to cease violating the law? Last fall, a federal judge ruled that he had violated both the Constitution and criminal law, and an appellate court was about to hold arguments about that decision. And his loyal servants no longer control Congress. Clearly, a desire to avert a now inevitable confrontation with the courts and Congress over the lawless eavesdropping motivated the decision to abide by the law. Other than a rank fear of consequences, there is simply is no coherent explanation for the Bush administration’s sudden abandonment of an illegal program that it had emphatically insisted was central to the “war on terror.”

It’s like a baby when they first actually become concious of their surroundings. Too funny. But there is more reality that is slapping Glenn upside the head which he cannot ignore:

Has a general warrant been issued approving of the program itself? Have so-called anticipatory warrants been issued by the court to allow the administration in advance to eavesdrop whenever specifically defined circumstances arise?

Glenn has always struggled to understand the simplest aspects of the NSA-FISA issue. It is surprising he has started see a glimmer of reality. He is a product of media-fed knowledge. He knows nothing outside what the NY Times tells him. His is an intellect under the total control of others. Sort of sad really.

Curses! Foiled again!