NY Times: Bush Still Wields the Threat of Terrorism

King George got his way with Congress with the passing of the "eavesdropping without warrants on international communications" legislation. He did it by threatening law makers with keeping them in Washington before they could leave town to go on a month-long vacation. But Dubya also got his way by frightening the American people with bogus talk of imminent terror attacks:

The Democrats’ critique of Mr. Bush’s conduct of the war in Iraq certainly contributed to their victory in midterm elections last November. And the Democratic candidates for president can count on thunderous applause when they attack Mr. Bush for his failure to capture Osama bin Laden, and for a heavy-handed approach at home.

But while the Democrats had hoped to leave town for the August recess on an upbeat note, Mr. Bush and his party succeeded in outflanking them with veiled — and not so veiled — warnings that any failure to give the president the authority he sought would leave his rivals liable in the event of another terrorist attack.

What is it about Democrats and being defensive when it comes to national defense. John Kerry, the war veteran, lost the last election because Bush succeeded in portraying him as a peacenik, soft on terror. Bush, the draft dodger, then used that same insecurity to get Democrats to vote for an illegal and disastrous war. Now the failed Commander in Chief has gotten Democrats to vote away America's freedoms. This after they had previously denounced this neo-fascist neocon White House for eavesdropping on U.S. citizens without a warrant:

“Everybody was afraid they might be branded as soft on terrorism,” Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, a Democratic presidential candidate, said Monday while speaking to Iowa voters.

[...]In interviews, Democratic leaders and their aides acknowledged being outmaneuvered by the White House, which they accused of negotiating in bad faith, and portrayed the bill as a runaway train. Both sides agree that after a series of briefings by Michael McConnell, director of national intelligence, on potential threats to the nation and what he saw as crucial gaps in the surveillance law, they agreed to work together on a new set of provisions before the August recess.

[...]And Democratic memories are still fresh with attacks Mr. Bush used in 2004 against Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, a presidential rival he portrayed as “weak on terror.” That Mr. Bush would succeed this month — and on a program as controversial as the eavesdropping by the National Security Agency — was somewhat surprising, given that the White House has seen its credibility on war and terrorism perceptibly erode this year.