Paper Werk is Hard...


I suppose this post should be illustrated with a picture of Steney Hoyer, but hey, can't a guy holler at Steny while maintaining his bonafides with the BDS crowd, too?

Anyway...legitimate, genuine concerns for civil liberties aside, I continue to wonder why nobody ON the civil liberties side of the argument makes what is to me an obvious and even easily understood point, namely, that filling out a FISA warrant is soooo easy even a wingnut could do it (even though they didn't) and, if they're TOO STUPID to fill out the one page form, do we really want them in government service? After all, even the simplest of tasks requires a minimium of competence, and, well...catching terrorists isn't the simplest of tasks.

Put the 'nuts on the spot--get right up in their face and ask them, point blank, if they're not just too goddamned dumb to be put in a position of authority. No, it's not a particularly pleasant or pretty strategy, and to be truthful, it's a little underhanded and mean (no, I don't think ALL wingnut are stupid...some are evil.) Nonetheless, it puts THEM on the defensive--and it's not like they haven't been playing a pretty ugly game themselves for quite some time.

And keep hitting the point, over and over--repetition WORKS in this instance. If they holler and whine about "the terrorists," reply that anyone too dumb to fill out a FISA warrant CAN'T BE TRUSTED to go after terrorists. If they talk about what a burden it is, point out that a one page form isn't exactly a theoretical physics final. If they get angry, note that anger is exactly what you'd expect from an idiot. If they claim it's merely a formality, then ask why it's such a goddamned burden.

For too long the whole argument about warrants in general has been slanted by a popular culture that's created the myth of a guilty crook walking because Officer Harry Callahan, man of action, was undercut by namby-pamby librul judges. Hell, FISA itself, when first enacted, ALLOWED the Callahans of this world to beat the crap out of suspects, throw them in the slammer...THEN get the warrant up to THREE DAYS later. But THAT'S still unacceptable to the Bush administration goons...and their enablers in the Democratic-controlled Congress.

What a sad statement as to our "freedoms."