Do I really need to point out how full of crap Republicans are about national security? They went into Ultra-Shrill mode for the past couple of days, pressuring spineless Democrats into handing Bush broad new warrantless wiretapping powers that allow him to even further violate the 4th amendment to the constitution; the law is so vaguely worded that virtually any communication could be eavesdropped on, so long as the administration can say that it is “directed at a person reasonably believed to be located outside the United States” [italics mine]. In other words, they can eavesdrop on any call, and then claim they had “reason” to believe it involved some foreign person. It no longer has to even be someone suspected of terrorism or any other crime.

Four or five months after a FISA judge made this change “necessary,” Bush and the Republicans in Congress ambushed the Democrats with a tried-and-true formula: drop it in at the last minute, block every attempt to attenuate the most radical and dangerous aspects of the bill, and then scream at the top of their lungs that Democrats were al Qaeda agents for even thinking of not giving the president the “necessary” powers, while not giving even the slightest hard evidence that such powers are in the least bit necessary. Of course, it worked, and Democrats are reduced to flaccidly saying that they will get right onto watering down that bill, after they get back from a month’s vacation. Yeah, right.

So, how serious is Bush, how serious are the Republicans, about keeping America and Americans secure? So much so, that they let 190,000 weapons bought with U.S. taxpayer money “accidentally” fall into the hands of insurgents and possibly terrorists in Iraq.

So rest assured: Bush and the GOP are hard at work making sure that you are safe. Really. They’re listening right now. Doesn’t that make you feel all secure and everything?