This just in from the Department of Blurred Vision at NASA: Space scientists have found a strong correlation between this headline …

… and this one:

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Congressional Dems on intelligence committees were briefed on the NSA’s Terrorist Surveillance Program since its inception and didn’t raise a peep until the NYT ran classified information on the program, in a serious national security breach.

Suddenly these hypocritical Dems were opposed to the program they knew so well, because it involved “domestic” “wiretaps.”

Of course, “wiretap” is a misnomer. NSA was electronically monitoring masses of transmissions for key words, not planting mikes in apartments.

It turns out “domestic” is also a misnomer. I believed this from the beginning, but had no idea how big a misnomer it is until I read today’s WSJ editorial on it:

This has turned out to be an enormous mistake that has unilaterally disarmed one of our best intelligence weapons in the war on terror. To understand why, keep in mind that we live in a world of fiber optics and packet-switching. A wiretap today doesn’t mean the FBI must install a bug on Abdul Terrorist’s phone in Peshawar. Information now follows the path of least resistance, wherever that may lead. And because the U.S. has among the world’s most efficient networks, hundreds of millions of foreign calls are routed through the U.S.

That’s right: If an al Qaeda operative in Quetta calls a fellow jihadi in Peshawar, that call may well travel through a U.S. network. This ought to be a big U.S. advantage in our “asymmetrical” conflict with terrorists. But it also means that, for the purposes of FISA, a foreign call that is routed through U.S. networks becomes a domestic call.

Only someone idiotic enough to cling to extreme liberal views of privacy would consider trolling through such calls to be domestic spying.

And there are 11 FISA judges just that idiotic, who routinely demand documentation and sloooow procedures before approving FISA operations.

WSJ continues:

Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell more or less admitted the problem last week, albeit obliquely, when he told the Senate that “We’re actually missing a significant portion of what we should be getting.” That’s understating things. Our sources say the surveillance program is now at most one-third as effective as it once was.

Does anyone believe the 11 idiot FISA judges, the Congressional Dems and the braying Left are raising all these objections to TSP because they’re concerned about the rights of Mohammed in Peshawar? Of course not! It’s all just a way to get Bush — even if the cost is our security.

Photo: McCullough.org

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I haven’t been along for the ride on the Scott Thomas (now Beauchamp), New Republic, Franklin Foer, Weekly Standard battle that’s been raging, but vacations can change things so I’ve been keeping up — and it was worth it because today New Republic editor Franklin Foer tells all (ha!) to WaPo’s media columnist, Howard Kurtz.

And it’s ugly. Ugly. Ugly.

LGF honed in right away on the wart-on-the-nose ugliness:

And then we have this statement.

The magazine’s editor, Franklin Foer, disclosed in an interview that Beauchamp is married to a New Republic staffer, and that is “part of the reason why we found him to be a credible writer.”

Wow. Oblivious to the ethical problems, or just saying anything to divert attention? You decide.

To not disclose that Beauchamp is married to a TNR staffer is an ethical breach you could walk the Israelites through, but there’s an even worse breach revealed nonchallantly in Kurtz’ column:

Foer said the magazine is attempting to confirm every detail. “We are trying to be as deliberate and meticulous as we possibly can,” he said. “We’re not going to be rushed into making any sort of snap judgment.”

Let’s turn this around. Let’s say someone at Fox … Ollie North, for example … reported from Iraq that Irianian troops were playing with the skulls of children, running over dogs and mocking war-injured Iraqis while cruising around Baghdad. After the expected cries of outrage and challenges to Ollie’s journalistic integrity, a Fox editor says Fox is trying to confirm the details of the story they’ve already broadcast.

Normally fact-checking comes first, unless of course you’re already denying your readers certain facts … like your independent soldier columnist is married to a staffer who’s gleefully covered the Dems’ Congressional victory and ridiculed celebs who support the war.

This is all standard operating procedure for the Libs. While they distrust everything the establishment has to say, they feel no particular need or obligation to be trustworthy in what they say. Throw it out; see if it sticks — that’s liberal journalism and leftist activism in a nutshell.

And of course the shame is on the right for demanding documentation — “It is really unfortunate that someone like Scott, who was really only trying to tell his particular story, has become a pawn in the debate over the war and the Weekly Standard’s efforts to press an ideological agenda,” Foer told Kurtz — not on the left, for not providing it.

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It was heartwarming to see that so many other connoisseurs of fine blogging also found what they were looking for in Right Wing Nuthouses’ Little Noted But Long Remembered marking the anniversary of the moon landing. Mnay joined me in voting it #1 for this week’s Watcher’s Council judging because of passages like this:

In 10,000 years, no one will remember Nancy Pelosi. No one will remember George Bush either. They may rate a line or two in some obscure scholar’s dissertation on primitive nation-state politics but I doubt it. History will lose track of them as she forgets so many others. Clio is really quite selective about what people and events are clasped to her bosom and carried through the centuries to be examined and debated by those in the future whose calling is to explain the past to their contemporaries.

The millions of words spoken and written in anger or passion or to persuade others over Iraq these last years will have completely disappeared, are already disappearing as the relentless march of time burns away all but the most influential or seminal of events and people. What’s left is in turn ground to powder and the remainder sifted through the ages until the essence of an entire century or more will be distilled for consumption.

This doesn’t make what’s happening today any less important. But it does give us a sobering perspective on how, in the long, tangled skein of people, events, and ideas that make up the history of the last 100 years – the wars, the ideology, the clashes of civilization and wills, – almost all of it will be seen as nothing more than sound and fury signifying nothing if it is remembered at all.

Except for the moon landing, of course.

Second place was a tie: my piece, Russia Vs. The US: No Contest and The Colossus Of Rhodey’s piece on educators gone wild, Boy, Was Thomas Right.

There was similar agreement on on Non-Council side, with a piece from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s blog, ON THE FRONTLINE / Cpl. JOHN MATTHEW BISHOP: In the Shadows of Fallen Comrades, trouncing the competition. I liked this piece so much I posted about it here.

Second place went to Don Surber’s Name That Party: Investigators.

See all the winners here.

As always, thanks, Watcher,

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My senator, Dianne Feinstein, she who has never addressed her husband’s profiteering from her Senate seat, said today Alberto Gonzales “should be held to the highest ethical standards” and called for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate whether Gonzales perjured himself in Congressional testimony about the Terrorist Surveillance Program (TSP).

Three other Dem Sens joined her: Charles Schumer, Russ Feingold and Sheldon Whitehouse.

In reporting the story, despite mounds of criticism about its careless reporting on the subject, AP continues to mis-report, saying “the terrorist surveillance program, which allowed the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on suspects in the United States without receiving prior court approval.” Of course it did not; it was a program of intercepting foreign communications, not domestic.

That’s not terribly relevant to the call for a special prosecutor, but it is extremely relevant to the greater story of the Dems’ Gonzales Derangement Syndrome. The parallels with Condi Rice are just amazing. Both are minorities. Both came from working class beginnings. Both worked their way up, realizing the American dream and stand as an example to young blacks and Hispanics of what can be accomplished in this great, remarkably unracist country.

But since they grew up to become conservatives, the Dems must attack them, destroy their reputations and drag their example through the mud — even if it shatters the American dream for thousands of youngsters and even if it is jeopardizes national security.

Gonzales appears to be deeply trusted by GWB, but does not appear to be a particularly savvy lawyer or competent administrator. Still, let’s look at the bare bones of this case:

• TSP had opponents and defenders, and underwent a vigorous internal debate, after which the defenders prevailed,
• Warrantless “wiretaps” were only used when matters were so time-sensitive that normal procedures could not be followed; there is no evidence that time sensitivity was ever wrongly used as an excuse to cover questionable probes,
• The courts issued a gray-area illegality finding and suggested easy remedies; while a defeat for Bush and Gonzales, the decision was hardly a finding of black and white evil-doing by the administration;
• The Dem position ultimately prevailed, even though it probably weakened our intelligence gathering capabilities.

All in all, a victory for the Dems — but they can’t let it rest because they can’t recognize victory unless a body is broken and bleeding at their feet; in this case, Gonzales’ body.

Their new attack, like the Scooter Libby conviction, is on ribbon-thin grounds, and like their earlier TSP victory, threatens to further weaken our security.

It boils down to Gonzales’ testimony vs. the facts at the time, but there’s disagreement over what the testimony covered. The Dem Sens say it was about TSP; Gonzales says it was about another program he cannot discuss publicly.

The Dem Sens could have clarified all this during the AG’s testimony this week — he offered to describe in closed session the program he said he was talking about, but they refused. They refused because it could have closed the door on this latest quest for blood.

Rather than seek the easy answer, the Dem Sens want a multi-million dollar special investigation into the AG — a perfect ploy because it will so hobble the Justice Department that they’re assured Gonzales will not be able to accomplish anything positive before the next election. No wonder they weren’t interested in learning what program Gonzales was talking about.

Worse, there’s the program Gonzales was talking about. Whatever it is, it’s top secret and still functioning despite the Dem attacks on TSP. Last week, its existence was unknown to the public. Now the combination of Dem pushing and Gonzales ineptitude as a witness has made the public aware that some program we don’t know about exists.

A program we don’t know about is a vacuum the media wants at all cost — including national security costs — to fill. That means NYT, WaPo, AP and other reporters are hounding their leaky sources looking for someone, anyone, who will spill the beans.

I give it less than a week before we see this program splashed over the front page of one of the majors, no matter what its revealing will do to diminish our security or put at risk our agents in the field — the agents the media was all concerned about when it was Plame’s outing that supposedly put them in jeopardy. Oblivious to this, the Dems will strive to paint the program as illegal, even if it’s not, and even if doing so brings it more out into the open, because they have proven they can only put themselves first, never national security.

The Left’s desire to trounce Bush and any minorities that align with him is about to damage our country once again. Bush should squelch this phony investigation. If it moves forward, Gonzales should resign in order to do whatever he can to protect the top secret program his testimony has now jeopardized.

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Here’s how Corporal John Matthew Bishop concludes an essay that is very, very deserving of your attention. The Daniel he mentions is his boot camp friend who felt predestined to die in Iraq, and was in fact killed there.

[R]egardless of what determination America reaches concerning the fate of Iraq, I urge her, so long as she exists, never to enter another war unless she goes to win. Should she ask her sons and daughters to take up arms, may she honor their sacrifices with the unflagging conviction and strength of conscience that are necessary to achieve victory. And if she cannot stomach the stakes involved, if the sacrifices of young men such as Daniel do not bolster her resolve but merely plunge her deeper into moral confusion and hysteria, may she, for her own good and for the good of the world, cease pretending at war altogether.

This is from a 25 year-old Corporal mind you, not a 45 year-old Colonel. Those who ridicule the American soldier, calling him a rube for falling for the trap of patriotism and war, could scarcely write a more powerful and wise essay.

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Incredible Daughter #1 has left Tokyo, checked into a fantastically modern hotel in Kyoto and visited a matsuri (religious festival) in Osaka. Plus, Aren re-sized all the photos so a chronic problem with losing the right edge of some of them sometimes is now ancient history.

So if you’re interested, check in to Japan Trip. Here’s ID#1 with a few young guys at the matsuri whose traditional garb clashes a bit with her somewhat questionable clothing selection. (“These guys were very excited to get their picture with us.” Wonder why?)

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There’s a spirited cosmic debate going on over at Bookworm Room, where Book’s on vacation and Don Quixote stepped in to ask a provocative question:

What do you think God thinks about the holy war declared on His people by the Islamist extremists and His people’s reactions to it?

Here’s my response; you’ll find over 20 other responses there from a variety of religious viewpoints, and it’s fascinating reading so be sure to click here and go there.

As usual, some of the most intelligent “comment-ary” on the Web is in Bookworm’s room.

I’m a solid and firm Christian believer raised in a very multicultural environment — Dad’s overseas postings, including an Islamic country (Turkey) and a Buddhist one (Japan). Buddhism sucked in my mom and brother, but after a lot of wandering, I came back to Christianity.

Back to Don Q’s original question, since there’s been a lot of meandering above: What do you think He thinks about the holy war declared on His people by the Islamist extremists and His people’s reactions to it? So, with the usual “we’ll never know His will” disclaimers:

“His people” are, as far as we know, only the Jews. Christians may be His people, but if they are, He hasn’t said so in so many words. This conflict is no different from earlier conflicts between the Jews and the Egyptians, the Jews and the Babylonians, the Jews and the worshippers of Baal, so we have a pretty good biblical record of what God’s view would be: He would expect and want Jews to stand up for the faith of their fathers, for the land God promised them and gave them, and fight with holy fervor to protect Israel and Judaism from Islam.

He would likely have been pleased with the early results of this battle, but like the Israelites in the wilderness, the Israelites of today have forgotten the miracles the Father performed, the promises he made, the faith of their fathers, and it showed in the languid, inept war of the summer of 2006. Did that make God unhappy? Probably not, because he saw it coming, right? Did it make him happy? Probably not. His mode is to let us follow our free will, get weak, have to fight, and get strong. He’s taking the long view.

I pray often and hard about the war with Islam. It is something I see no end to, a perfect storm that will blow and blow and blow some more. God obviously doesn’t see it as we do, and we need someone to lead us who understands what God means by all this, and leads accordingly.

Christianity has understood its Jewish roots well over the years and has risen up to defend the Holy Land and Judeo-Christian values many times in the past. Colonial America saw America as a biblical allegory: Europe was Egypt, America was the Holy Land, we were God’s new children with a weighty moral responsibility. God certainly blessed that vision of what America was, but now we have weakened with time, and so has (or will) His blessing.

If the raise of Islamism and its declaration of jihad against us is meant by God to be our wilderness, our testing to make us strong, it is a savage wilderness and a good test. We will not prevail by multiculturalism, which God refers to as “putting other gods before Me.” We will not prevail by weakness or concession. In times like this, God asks us to prevail by thoroughly and completely whupping the butts of our opponents.

So, if that’s the case, God’s probably not smiling about where we are at this point in time … but since He doesn’t live in time, He may be smiling anyway.

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Watcher has posted this week’s nominees by the Watcher’s Council, and for once I’ve got time to lounge and read. Hope you do too, because it looks like a stellar list of great reads.

Do be sure to click on my non-Council nominee, Guns and Brains, from The New Yorker’s blog. I used to read The New Yorker avidly, but left it as I left the Democratic party. This post is a good one, though.

Council links:

1. Discussing What Next in Iraq
   The Glittering Eye
2. False Posturing in Congress
   Bookworm Room
3. Prisoners to Prisoner Releases
   Soccer Dad
4. Palestinian Terrorists’ Release — Rattlesnake Logic
   Joshuapundit
5. Snark vs. Smart 2
   Done With Mirrors
6. Boy, Was Thomas Right
   The Colossus of Rhodey
7. Virginia’s Clown Princes: Governor Tim Kaine & Co.
   The Education Wonks
8. Max Boot to Kissinger — “Iraq Isn’t Vietnam, Henry”
   ‘Okie’ on the Lam
9. The Limits of Student Speech and School Authority
   Rhymes With Right
10. Russia Vs. The US: No Contest
    Cheat Seeking Missiles
11. Little Noted But Long Remembered
    Right Wing Nut House
12. Dubai Ports Weird
    Big Lizards

Non-council links:

1. Meanwhile, in the Real World.
   Donklephant
2. (Updated) Foer: “Shock Troops” Just Practical Jokers
   The Weekly Standard
3. The Night Mitch McConnell Became the Leader of the Republican Party.
   Hugh Hewitt
4. General David Petraeus on the Conditions on the Ground in Iraq
   Hugh Hewitt (2)
5. ON THE FRONTLINE / Cpl. JOHN MATTHEW BISHOP: In the Shadows of Fallen Comrades
   The Atlanta Journal COnstitution
6. Does Biden Really Have the Better Shine?
   Kavips
7. The Brahmins of Labor
   Captain’s Quarters
8. The 9/11 Generation
   The Weekly Standard (2)
9. Name That Party: Investigators
   Don Surber
10. Guns and Brains
    The New Yorker
11. Starting the Hidden Hero Charity Drive!
    Ace of Spades HQ
12. Watching the Debate Would Not Have Helped My Mental Health
    Classical Values
13. Defence Against the Dark Arts
    The Possum Bistro
14. Harry Potter and the Megan McArdle Article
    BitsBlog

Winners will be posted Friday morning. As always, thanks, Watcher!

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Incredible Daughter #1 continues to post interesting commentary and great photos on her Japan Trip blog — like this photo of some gay water (note the “Life Partner” logo) they bought on one of their outings.

She and her boyfriend Aren have sharp eyes for catching the funny and the beautiful, so it’s a fun romp through the blog.

Interestingly, the photo they posted of a boob pillow is now gone, both from their blog and mine. Photo Bucket pulled it, replacing it with a rude red-slashed circle and a grim warning that we violated their policies.

A plastic pillow with a couple nipples is crude, but it’s more a commentary on society than an obscenity. Still, kudos to Photo Bucket for at least having policies instead of letting anything go.

p.s.: The four light blue characters at the bottom of each post are ko-me-n-to, or comment. Be sure to click and leave them with a thought or two.

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