Things just keep getting curiouser and curiouser. Today it is Democratic Reps. Jim McDermott of Washington, who earned the moniker ‘Baghdad Jim’, David Bonior of Michigan and Mike Thompson of California, going on an all expenses paid junket to Iraq in October of 2002 to meet with Saddam Hussein over a year before the war began. And not one of them knew that the trip was financed by Saddam Hussein.

Are we to think that these three anti-war Democrats did not know who was paying for the trip, since they were not? ‘Plausible deniability’ dictates not to be so curious as to inquire who is picking up the tab. Take the free ride to Saddam’s palace.  Take the opportunity to accuse the President of lying to the American people.  And let’s not forget, all the free propaganda material Saddam can use.

I’m reminded of the words of James Carville, then attack dog and political adviser to President Clinton, when Clinton Inc. was smearing Paula Jones as ‘trailer park trash.’ Of Paula Jones, he said something like ‘that’s what you get when you drag a dollar bill through a trailer park.’ The analogy fits when applied to these three, Baghdad Jim McDermott, David Bonior and Mike Thompson. Drag a dollar through their office and they’re yours. They’ve apparently been conditioned to not ask questions.

Of the lawmakers . . .

None was charged and Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said investigators “have no information whatsoever” any of them knew the trip was underwritten by Saddam.

That’s one issue. Then there’s what they said while in Baghdad. Baghdad Jim told ABC, from Baghdad, that “the president of the United States will lie to the American people in order to get us into this war.” But wait, there’s more! He said this on Iraqi TV . . .

“We are three veterans of the Vietnam War who came over here because we don’t want war. We assert from here that we do not want the United States to wage war on any peace-loving countries. As members of Congress, we would like diplomatic efforts to continue so as not to launch any aggression. We will visit children’s hospitals to see the negative impact of the sanctions imposed on Iraq. We hope that peace will prevail throughout the world.”

related link: US: Saddam paid for lawmakers’ Iraq trip | The Baghdad Democrats

A sensational title? Sure, but it is also the truth when it comes to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Democrats letting expire the parts of the Protect America Act that deal with internet and cell communications. This is the same bill that the Senate passed in a bi-partisan vote of 68-29. The consequence? For a little more than three weeks now (Feb 16, 2008) the government has to operate by the 1978 standards of the FISA act. This means, they can not listen in on communications from terrorists in Pakistan to terrorists in Afghanistan. It is taking a tool out of the toolbox in fighting the war on terror. The House democrats seem more concerned with librarians than the terrorists that want us dead.

The Protect America Act amended the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that was passed in 1978 to protect people inside the United States from being monitored by U.S. intelligence without a warrant proving they were agents of a foreign government.

This point is crucial: FISA was never meant to apply to foreigners outside the United States communicating with other foreigners outside the United States.

To be fair to Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats, they may only appear to be aligned with terrorists in an ‘unintended consequences’ kind of way. To believe Nancy Pelosi does not know of the ‘unintended consequences’ as relates to the enemy requires a suspension of dis-belief. That being the case though, it shows they don’t take alQaeda seriously. So who else benefits from this bill being kept on hold? Trial lawyers. Trial lawyers have dozens of cases against phone companies who are providing help to the government, at the government’s request, in tracking down terrorists, not librarians. And, included in this bill are provisions for granting companies immunity in cases where they provide intelligence at the government’s request. This, of course, is being portrayed by the left as the government listening in on your pizza order delivery call and Big Brother must be stopped. So, the title could also be Democrats Secure Win For Trial Lawyers, a major source of campaign contributions to the Democratic party. Politically, Robet Novak nails it . . .

The recess by House Democrats amounts to a judgment that losing the generous support of trial lawyers, the Democratic Party’s most important financial base, would be more dangerous than losing the anti-terrorist issue to Republicans.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) sites support in the Senate . . .

At one point during the debate, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., who helped pass the Senate version, declared that without these measures our intelligence will be “degraded.” Similarly, the Director of National Intelligence said without this legislation, we lack the necessary tools to intercept communications between foreign nationals.

Which ever way you look at the inaction by House democrats, the losers are the same, the American people.

Statement from The White House

related links: The Unilateral Disarmament Democrats: Putting Trial Lawyers Ahead of Your Family’s Safety | Center for Individual Freedom | House Defeats FISA Extension | Do House Democrats Take Terrorism Seriously? | Background: Listening To The Enemy

For all those who still think that ‘Bush lied’ about Iraq’s WMD threat, this video shows a whole plethora of liers. Otherwise, the video is an illustration of Democrat Hypocrisy on parade.