Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

9/11 had nothing to do with the wiretaps.

This was the President's strongest (and only) reasoning for why he authorized the wiretaps without a warrant. The Constitution is mentioned, but so are these guys:

"It seems logical to me that if we know there's a phone number associated with al Qaeda or an al Qaeda affiliate and they're making phone calls, it makes sense to find out why," Bush said at the Brooke Army Medical Center, where he met with about 50 wounded soldiers, Marines and airmen and their families. He also awarded nine Purple Hearts to troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. "They attacked us before, they'll attack us again."

If terrorism was the President's reason for not getting warrants after 9/11, what was his reason for not getting warrants before 9/11?

Cheney is lying his ass off.

Of course, Dick Cheney has to chime in, and it's no surprise that he supports the President's actions:

Cheney said the program had "saved thousands of lives."

"It is, I'm convinced, one of the reasons we haven't been attacked in the past four years," Cheney said.

Again, the terrorist excuse. We know that bunk. As for the warrantless wiretapping preventing terrorist attacks, tell that to the good people of Chicago, who were this close to a Timothy McVeigh-style attack. The guy responsible is facing 160 years, and was caught becuase he tried to sell 1,500 pounds of fertilizer to an undercover agent.

Nice try, Mr. Cheney.

We cannot trust the President's decisions.

For those of you who like sports: did your favorite team ever have a coach who you swore was personally responsible for like 80% of your team's losses. A guy/gal who's totally overwhelmed, can't develop young players, plays the wrong players at the wrong time, and doesn't know what to do with the team's superstar?

Well, that's Bush. If he was a coach, he would have been fired years ago. He decision-making is just horrible. And when you have a leader who not only makes bad decisions, but then lies about them and their consequences, there's no other choice but to get another leader.

I encourage everyone who reads this to tell someone. It doesn't have to be a congressman or senator, it could be a sibling, spouse, child or friend. You next-door neighbor. You gym-buddy. Your co-worker. Someone who you think needs to hear this.