Posted 12:40 PM by steve

I've long faulted the Bush Administration for, among other things, being so pathetically inept at presenting their case to the American public. Time after time, the Administration has let the left define the debate in ways that makes the Bush Administration look incompetent, evil and/or corrupt and leads to the Administration, trying to cut the PR damage, agreeing to cut and curtail programs necessary to our national security.

An example is over the intelligence agencies monitoring phone calls and communications in order to detect and deter terror attacks against America. The Administration has never made the case that their programs are in America's best interests. Their failure to do so has let the left define these programs as illegal invasions of privacy. And this has in turn led to the Administration agreeing to 'reforms' that, in effect, do nothing more than place obstacles in the way of those who are doing their best to keep another 9/11 from taking place.

Even when the Administration is served up an opportunity on a platter to make its case, such as citing the German police's monitoring of phone calls into Germany from Pakistan that led to the detection and arrest of the three terrorists planning to attack American facilities, the Bush Administration has failed to take advantage.

Why aren't Bush Administration officials on all the talk shows today talking about how monitoring of this sort has been proven over and over again to be effective at preventing terror? Why aren't they decrying as dangerous to our country the Democrats opposition to these programs? Why aren't they pointing out that time after time, organizations such as the ACLU take positions at odds with the health and security of this country and that, as a result, Americans should discount heavily much, if not everything, the ACLU says?

Why are they sitting on their a**? Other than their being totally clueless and incompetent?

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