The Big Dick Spanks The Nine Eleven Monkey To A Frenzied Climax - Sub Title: The Big Dick Committs Rhetorical Suicide One More Time

Just when you think Scotty gets off the hook for a light day in front of the press, the Veep steps up to the plate to stroke the Nine Eleven Monkey over and again in public. My goodness, don't they realize that every time they stress that the lurkers are going to kill us, but then counter with the argument "our actions make us safer," they are really committing rhetorical suicide? Think about it. Here's the evidence:

There have been some prominent voices advocating a sudden withdrawal of our forces from Iraq. Some have suggested that this war is not winnable, and a few seem almost eager to conclude that the whole strategy is already lost. But they are wrong. The only way we lose this fight is to quit -- and that's not an option. (Applause.)

Every American serving in this war can be absolutely certain that the people of our country do not support a policy of passivity, of retreat and resignation, and defeatism in the face of terror. The United States will never go back to the false comforts of the world before September 11th, 2001. Terrorist attacks are not caused by the use of strength. They are invited by the perception of weakness. And this nation has made a decision: We will engage these enemies -- facing them far from home, so we do not have to face them on the streets of our own cities. (Applause.)

This work goes on, because we are dealing with enemies who view the entire world as a battlefield. Their prime targets are the United States and the American people.

That effort includes a home front, which is every bit as important as the battlefields abroad. In his speech to Congress after 9/11, President Bush said that the United States would, and I quote, "direct every resource at our command -- every means of diplomacy, every tool of intelligence, every instrument of law enforcement, every financial influence, and every necessary weapon of war -- to the disruption and to the defeat of the global terror network." The Congress backed him up in full, authorizing the President to defeat an enemy that had already slipped into our country, waged a horrific attack against innocent men and women, and doing enormous damage as they killed 3,000 of our fellow citizens.

The President also signed the Patriot Act, which is helping us to disrupt terrorist activity, to break up terror cells within the United States, and to protect the lives of Americans. Another vital step the President took in the days following 9/11 was to authorize the National Security Agency to intercept a certain category of terrorist-linked international communications. There are no communications more important to the safety of the United States than those related to al Qaeda that have one end of their calls in the United States.

If you'll recall, the report of the 9/11 Commission, they focused criticism on our inability to uncover links between terrorists at home and terrorists abroad. The authorization the President made after September 11th helped address that problem in a manner that is fully consistent with the Constitution and with the legal authority of the President and the civil liberties of the American people. The activities conducted under this authorization have helped to detect and prevent possible terrorist attacks against our nation. They are within the President's authority under the Constitution and the laws of the land. And they are vital to the security of our country.

We are talking here about a wartime measure, limited in scope to surveillance associated with terrorists, and conducted in a way that safeguards the civil liberties of the American people. It's important to note that leaders of Congress have been briefed more than a dozen times on this program and the President's authorization, and on activities conducted under it. I have personally presided over most of those briefings. In addition, the entire program is reconsidered and reauthorized by the President approximately every 45 days. He has done so more than 30 times since September 11th -- and he has indicated his intent on continuing to do so as long as our nation faces a continuing threat from al Qaeda.

It seems more than obvious to say that our nation is still at risk. Yet as we get farther away from September 11th, some in Washington are yielding to the temptation to downplay the threat, and to back away from the business at hand. That mindset may be comforting but it is dangerous. We're all grateful this nation has gone for more than four years without another 9/11. Obviously, no one can guarantee that we won't be hit again. But getting through four years of wartime without an attack on the homeland took more than just luck. We've been protected by sensible policy decisions, by decisive action at home and abroad, and by round-the-clock efforts on the part of people in the armed services, in law enforcement and intelligence, and homeland security. The enemy that struck on 9/11 is weakened and fractured, yet still lethal, still determined to hit us again.

What a load of horseshit - no offense to the horse lovers out there.