Does Daschle Want Some Cheese With His Whine?

"Why was the U.S. Senate so fixated on protecting jobs instead of protecting lives? The U.S. Senate's refusal to grant this president and future presidents the same power that four previous presidents have had will haunt the Democratic party worse than Marley's ghost haunted Ebenezer Scrooge. Why did they put workers' rights above American lives? Why did that 2002 U.S. Senate - on the one-year anniversary of 9/11 - with malice and forethought, deliberately weaken the powers of the president in time of war? And then why did this Senate - in all its puffed up vainglory - rear back and deliver the ultimate slap in the face of the president by not even having the decency to give him an up or down vote on his bill? This is unworthy of this great body. It is demeaning and ugly and over the top." - Senator Zell Miller, Democrat, Georgia, as cited by the Weekly Standard, October 7, 2002.

In Trenton New Jersey, September 23, 2002, at a campaign stop, President George Bush urged the Senate to pass the Homeland Security Bill. Bush's words:

"I asked the Congress to give me the flexibility necessary to be able to deal with the true threats of the 21st century by being able to move the right people to the right place at the right time, so we can better assure America were doing everything possible. The House has responded, but the Senate is more interested in special interests and not interested in the security of the American people. I will not accept a Department of Homeland Security that does not allow this president, and future presidents, to better keep the American people secure. And people are working hard in Washington to get it right in Washington, both Republicans and Democrats. See this isn't a partisan issue. This is an American issue."

Bush foolishly and unfairly used the phrase, "not interested in the security of the American people" which can legitimately be interpreted as suggesting that the Senate leadership does not care about security. However, the entire context of the speech also emphasizes bi-partisanship and that "both Republicans and Democrats" had been working together. The speech was certainly not has harsh as some have portrayed. Nonetheless, there was certainly enough ammunition for political hacks to venture onto the cable news programs to fret about Bush "politicizing" defense and security issues.

Go To Page: 1 2 3