Musings 170--Congress turned down Clinton's anti-terrorism law.

If you delve around on the internet long enough, you find out all kinds of interesting things. Some are true and some are not. However, there is evidence that former President Bill Clinton tried to get the GOP controlled congress to give him some of the terror-fighting tools that Bush jr. just blatently took. (See Link)

CNN has a lot of stuff just floating around their archives. With just a little homework, journalist can find plenty of background information that sheds new light on current issures.

According to a July 30, 1996 report on the CNN US News Story Page, President Clinton said the following: "We need to keep this country together right now. We need to focus on this terrorist issue." He then asked congress to act swiftly on anti-terrorism legislation.

Clinton wanted congress to address a study of chemical markers in explosives. Senator Orrin Hatch, R, Utah, called the study, "a phoney issue." Hatch, who is not a leading cheerleader for Bush jr. wiretapping program, stated in the article that "he had some problems with the president's proposals to expand wiretapping."

Wow! Orrin you are the orginial flip-flopper. I guess party really does matter in national security. Now that Bush jr. is president, Hatch and the republicans are happy to give him a pass on the wiretapping program. Bush jr. didn't ask them, he just took it upon himself to do it and said "kiss my ass" to anyone who was against it.

If the republicans had any guts they'd buck the president on his wiretapping program. But, they won't...he's their guy...right or wrong. It is kind of like a fundamentalist christain marriage--till death do they part. The president and his party are on life support, and we all know how they feel about unhooking that.

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Happy Birthday T. Michael!! You ain't getting older you're getting better--or, so your mom says. Life begins at 30...or 58...depending on your point of view and where you are on the scale.