It's time for a political/media pet peeve. I am so tired of hearing liberals, but especially the media refer to President Bush's "domestic spying" program. I'm sorry, but if someone is receiving calls from Al Queda, I want the government to be on top of it immediately. That is the organization that is responsible for 9/11. We are at war with them.

The problem is that the media is not leaving that impression. They make it sound like the President is listening in on the personal telephone calls of innocent American citizens. They won't provide any basis for such a claim. They are just mischaracterizing what is happening. They are trying to portray this as "big brother" is watching you.

Senator Patrick Leahy is one of many who are using this deceptive tactic. Here are some quotes from him, just today. "We have a president who is prone to unilateralism, and assertions of executive power that extend all the way to illegal spying on Americans. Preventing government intrusion into the privacy and freedoms of Americans is one of the hallmarks of the Supreme Court." Or this one, "This president is claiming power to illegally spy on Americans..."
He is being very deceptive.

Unfortunately we have come to expect deception from politicians, but the media should be above this. They are not, though, as many major media outlets routinely call it "the President's domestic spying program". I like President Bush's description, from a speech he made at Kansas State University:

"Something that you've been reading about in the news lately. It's what I would call a terrorist surveillance program. After the enemy attacked us and after I realized that we were not protected by oceans, I asked people that work for you, work for me: "How best can we use information to protect the American people?" We had ways to determine whether or not someone can be an Al-Qaeda affiliate, or Al-Qaeda, and if they're making a phone call in the United States, it seems like to me we'd want to know why. I'll repeat to you, you know, you hear words "domestic spying." These are not phone calls within the United States. This is a phone call of a Al-Qaeda, known Al-Qaeda suspect, making a phone call into the United States. I'm mindful of your civil liberties, and so I had all kinds of lawyers review the process. We briefed members of the United States Congress. You know, it's amazing when people say to me, "Well, he's just breaking the law." If I wanted to break the law, why was he briefing Congress? "

I believe we have a situation where what's really happening is that we are spying on our nation's enemy; an enemy which attacked us and claims they will do it again. None of us have any business being on the phone with Al Qaeda. If I talk to them, I'm asking for trouble. There seems to be a lot of deception. I wish the media would at least allow a debate based on the facts.

I'm just saying simply that liberals (in the media or in Congress) are not accurately describing what is going on. They are just deceiving the average person, trying to make them think the focus of the spying is on innocent American citizens, which is not true. That allegation has never been proven. All I am asking for is accuracy in reporting. My personal opinion is that during a war, if someone is on the phone with the the enemy, they are putting themself at odds with their own country. I don't feel sorry for anyone who does that.

Many times people don't read the stories. Many people are just exposed to headlines. Headlines describing this as "domestic spying" are unfair and inaccurate. Think about it. If you make a call overseas, is it referred to as a "domestic call"? Of course not. So why refer to this program as domestic spying? There is no valid reason to do that.

The 'object' of the spying and the reason it is done is the Al Qaeda member on the line. The reason it exists is not the American, rather, it's the enemy that was responsible for 9/11. I suspect the same media would claim the President "should have done more" if there was communication that would have prevented anorther attack then went unmonitored because he waited 72 hours for a court order.

To me, and I think most Americans, this sounds very reasonable. In fact I would expect nothing less out of a commander-in-chief. Unless someone provides evidence that this program is not what the President says, I'd rather believe him.