A little honesty from Republicans for once

Someone forgot to keep the cards close to the vest, and let slip this revealing tidbit concerning the FISA amendment donnybrooke:

Armed with their talking points, the two parties battled all day Friday, with Republicans promising to exact a political price and Democratic leaders saying they have nothing to fear.

The Republican National Committee on Friday blasted Sens. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., for letting what it called a "critical" surveillance law lapse. "They have handed us a political issue on a golden platter," said one House Republican leadership aide. "And we will use it against them."

But of course, we knew that. That has been the intent all along: To try and force the Democrats into caving and giving Dubya protection against the uncovering of his law breaking (through telecom immunity), or to make them 'responsible' for the expiration of the so-called "Protect America Act", and then use this to repeat the same ol' tired refrain about the Dhimmicrats wanting the Terra-ists to win...

But the House Democrats aren't as timid as the Senate ones, and this time, they're saying, "Bring it on!"

Good for them.

Of course, we're going to see this kind of crapola:

Editor - The Chronicle reports that House Leader Nancy Pelosi intends to recess the House of Representatives without taking a vote on the intelligence bill passed by the Senate. ("Senate votes to ban harsh interrogation techniques," Feb. 14). This of course, would effectively expire the bill and further hamper the security efforts of the U.S.

It has been rather typical of Democrats, since President Harry Truman, to make bad decisions for our national security. This one could be the worst ["be very afraid!!!"].

If, as a result of the lapsed security, there is another attack on the U.S., its citizens or armed forces or embassies, there should not be hearings like the 9-11 commission.

Only charges of treason against Pelosi and her Democrats would be proper.

CHARLES PRATTO
Pinole

[my emphasis]

Yeah, whatever.... Betcha the bozo is just praying for such, so his Rethuglicans can use that cudgel for [hoped] political effect. However, reality being what it is, the actual Terra-ists aren't doing so well (they just got lucky on 9/11, helped in large part by a somnolent and incompetent maladministration).


Update

Glenn Greenwald points out the hysterical (in both senses of the world) "countdown clock" at the Heritage Foundation site (see his Update and Update 2):

UPDATE: The deeply serious Heritage Foundation -- and this is real -- has a countdown clock on its frontpage, showing to the second milisecond the time that we all have left before we become -- all together now -- unsafe and unprotected (h/t sysprog):

It is true, of course, that many right-wing polemicists use fearmongering techniques like this manipulatively, to exploit the Terrorist threat for more unchecked government power and to advance their political agenda. But many of them actually believe this, and there are undoubtedly all sorts of individuals in the U.S. today nervously looking at their clocks, with accelerating heartbeat and a deepening sense of foreboding, knowing that the Hour of Danger is nigh upon us. This pitiful, fear-drenched absurdity is the face of the Bush Movement, the symbol of the post-9/11 Bush Era in the United States.
...
I'd love to know how many National Review readers and Rush Limbaugh listeners spent today going to the store to stock up on window shutters, duct tape and canned goods.

Various seriously unserious wags in Glenn's comment section suggested that those of us lucky enough to live on the Left Coast would have three more hours to party until Doomsday, thanks to the time-zone differences...


Update 2

T+18:52:24: Still alive. Will keep reporting as long as I'm able. I hear the giant tripods have crossed most of New Jersey, laying waste to all in their path. The Hudson crossing is next. Pray for me. Only Dubya can save us now....