Posted by zeugma on February 10, 2006, at 20:31:49
In reply to Re: George W Bush » wildcard11, posted by zeugma on February 10, 2006, at 19:52:19
as i said, it pains me terribly to be civil, and i dislike writing anything of my own, the internet is a vast source of substitutes for thought, it's painful to think anyway, and the results of thought are so rarely civil.
but I do not believe that Bush's upgrades to NSA spycraft with its likely violations of Constitutional law have resulted in a single terrorist brought to book. It is not true that had the ability to sidestep FISA been granted the President in 2001, that any tragedy would have been averted. The 'raw intelligence' was there already. What is needed is the ability to appreciate the significance of the data. One can analogize directly to what occurred in New Orleans. The National Weather Service, one branch of government that has never been accused of violating anyone's rights, did an admirable job of keeping our elected officials updated about the progress of the storm. what was singularly lacking was the ability to use this data in a timely and constructive way. I do not believe that the individuals Bush has delegated for this task are particularly good at either using their intuitive or deductive skills.All the NSA intercepts in the world cannot substitute for these skills.
-z
poster:zeugma
thread:608261
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20060204/msgs/608487.html