OT: Passing of the Homeland Defense Bill

[Guest guest]

Hey Dale,

 

First .. lemme say that I hate politics but understand its a necessary

evil .. as are politicans and lawyers. ;-p

 

And lots of things are gonna go down over the next few months and years

that we aren't gonna like but they too will be necessary. The history

of America is a history of changes that some folks disliked .. its one

of the most interesting histories in the world cause so much happened in

such a short period of time .. drastic changes were made that just a few

years prior would never have been dreamed of. But all in all, Americans

live in the best of the worst conditions to be found on this earth.

 

I understand that Congressional folks are pointing fingers and saying

they didn't know this and that .. but the final vote on that bill was

52-47 and the Republicans do not have a 5 seat majority in the Senate.

Plus Senator John McCain, R-Arizona .. voted with the Democrats.

 

" But most moderates, including Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu of

Louisiana *** and Senator Dean Barkley, an independent from Minnesota,

voted with Republicans. " UNQUOTE.

 

A bit from one report:

 

" Creation of the Cabinet-level department dedicated to protecting the

United States from terrorist attacks is expected to take years and will

combine about 170,000 federal workers from 22 agencies.

 

The push for a new Cabinet-level department originally came from

Democrats and was initially opposed by the administration.

 

Bush embraced the idea in June and effectively put Democrats on the

defensive when some of them did not support his view of how much

flexibility he should have in running the department. " UNQUOTE

 

Not surprising when partisan politics is alive and well. ;-p

 

" The senators who voted against the measure were:

 

Ted Kennedy, D-Massachusetts

Paul Sarbanes, D-Maryland;

Jim Jeffords, I-Vermont;

Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii;

Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii;

Robert Byrd, D-West Virginia;

Carl Levin, D-Michigan;

Ernest " Fritz " Hollings, D-South Carolina;

Russ Feingold, D-Wisconsin. " UNQUOTE

 

Ted Kennedy, Paul Sarbanes, Robert Byrd and Carl Levin are four who vote

against anything the opposition supports .. they are not, in my opinion,

credible nor are they representing their constituents in their manner.

 

Feingold .. on the other hand .. took a very narrow view of the Homeland

Defense Bill .. " Feingold said the new bill came " at the expense of

unnecessarily undermining our privacy rights " and " weakening protections

against unwarranted government intrusion into the lives of ordinary

Americans. While I commend the president for recognizing the need to

consider a major government reorganization in light of the tragic events

of September 11, this could have been accomplished while preserving our

privacy and our liberties as Americans " UNQUOTE

 

This is a perfect example of dinasaur mentality. Things will never be

as they were before .. 11 September woke up those who were nodding off.

 

The protection you wrote of in your other post was:

 

" The controversial provisions, which include liability protections for

pharmaceutical manufacturers and companies that develop anti-terrorism

technologies, had been inserted into the legislation by House

Republicans and approved by the House last week.

 

Republicans won the Senate vote on those provisions only after assuring

some moderates they would work to eliminate three of them next year.

 

We will work with senators on both sides of the aisle and the House to

make some corrections and clarification, " Senate Majority Leader Trent

Lott, R-Mississippi, told reporters. " UNQUOTE

 

I think Trent Lott is an honorable person .. I believe they will do it.

In fact, it was reported that " Unless that happened, Senators Olympia

Snowe, Susan Collins, both Maine Republicans, and Senator Lincoln

Chafee, Republican-Rhode Island, told Vice President Dick Cheney -- the

president of the Senate -- and Senator Trent Lott they would buck their

party. " UNQUOTE.

 

Anyway .. America is moving forward to deal with a completely different

kind of threat .. and it will be dealt with in ways that are different

than we have become accustomed to seeing. Those who oppose the changes

will gain nothing but discontent .. there is NO WAY America can ever be

as it was before .. but then, this has been the case in every generation

since 1776. The foreigners I talk with understand and accept this far

better than do the Americans but they have lived with security problems

for a long time .. we have just been awakened to the realities. :-(

 

Y'all keep smiling, Butch