Leahy (D) Vermont

After reading this, I don't know as there could be a more reprehensible figure in American politics today.

On the lawfulness of the NSA wiretapping program, which Gen. Hayden publicly defends

LEAHY: No, I don't believe it's lawful. I do believe that General Hayden is a very competent, highly intelligence trained officer. And I appreciate that. But this is a question that goes beyond him. It goes to the White House.

On the NSA wiretapping program
LEAHY: And some might question: what does that give us? I mean, it's like drinking from a fire hose. We should be spying on terrorists, not spying on innocent Americans.

If you have hundreds of millions of phone calls you're trying to track a day, what do you get out of it? Remember, this is the same administration that had the information that could have stopped 9/11 from happening. They didn't translate it until September 12.

On the phone companies
BLITZER: So did AT&T, Southern Bell and Verizon -- did they violate the law, violate the privacy of their customers?
LEAHY: I do not find anything in the law that allows them to do this. This is why they're going to be invited to come before the Senate Judiciary Committee and explain under what law they acted.

On the Bush Administration
LEAHY: Every time this administration screws up, whether it's with homeland security, after Katrina, a massive failure even though they spent billions of dollars to make sure that thing wouldn't happen, when they screw up along the border, when they get caught doing illegal surveillance of Americans, they say, well, but 9/11, 9/11.

Well, I'd remind them 9/11 happened on their watch. I think Americans are getting fed up with simply using an excuse for your mistakes and classify everything else so that you can't talk about it.

I want us to be safe. I don't think that this administration is doing it the right way. They screwed up with homeland security. They screwed up with Katrina. I mean, after all, they were told, go catch a 6'6" Arab running around Afghanistan, probably on dialysis, according to the press reports, Osama bin Laden.

Comments

[bryan...aka point b]

If the President didn't tap phones and a terrorist attack happened again the Democrats would be crying that he didn't tap sleeper cell phones. The President can't win with these liberals and its going to get much worse. With the election coming up he will be blamed for everything from now until the elections are held.

[splashtc]

He left a lot out, the ports deal, bird flu, korea- seems his rant is domestic based. He's right about ...."We should be spying on terrorists, not spying on innocent Americans...." Now what exactly is that terrorist exchange # 555-?

[tester]

1-800-466-7262

But doesn't the rhetoric just build and build in the second term until the election process begins and new targets emerge.

You watch, Georgie boy will look about 103 when he pops out of the Whitehouse with handfuls of W keys, sacks of towels, robes, and premium toilet paper.

[Phoenix]

What a way to start the day. .. In a serious bad mood. This jerk lives in a reality of a 15 second sound-bite.

[SinCerely]

LEAHY: I do not find anything in the law that allows them to do this. This is why they're going to be invited to come before the Senate Judiciary Committee and explain under what law they acted.

What he is really saying is "I haven't found a law which they have broken."

[Captain Joe]

I suppose Leahy and the rest of the blame fixers would fight the global war on terror by taking the terrorists to the World Court or the UN.

[Captain Joe]

Leahy is affraid that Bush will discover that the terrorists have been talking to some of his friends at Yale who arranged for a Taliban member to attend college there, even though the terrorist only has a 3rd grade education. What is worse, Yale lowering its entrance requirements or Yale dealing with the enemy, while their ROTC unit was kicked off campus and has to travel 80 miles for training.

[Tim]

He sounds right on the money to me!

P.S. Dude, if you can't find a more reprehensible figure in politics, I suggest you drop your OJ Simpson approach to searching (that is, not searching at all), and start looking at just about anyone who now works in the White House, or is a member of the GOP Senate or Congress!