Michelle Malkin: The Dems’ ‘First Responder’ fakeout [1]:
“Kerry, you see, was speaking before the International Association of Fire Fighters, whose president, Harold Schaitberger, is national co-chair of the Kerry for President Committee. Their complaint is not that Bush has done too little to fight terrorism, but that he has showered too little government funding on certain Democratic constituencies. Hence, the First Responders Fake-out.
Kerry’s big proposal to fight the global war on terrorism (borrowed from Bill and Hillary Clinton) is to add 100,000 ‘first responders’ to the ranks of firefighters and emergency medical personnel in cities and towns across the United States. In other words: Wait until the terrorists strike us again and then do a really, really good job of cleaning up the mess afterward.”
100,000 new members won’t hurt the union supporting him, huh?
“When it comes to protecting America from terrorism,” Kerry complains, “this administration is big on bluster and short on action.” And what does Kerry have to offer? More bluster about the old Clintonian “law enforcement” approach to prosecuting al Qaeda. More jury trials for terrorists.
The federal prosecution of the 1993 World Trade Center bombers in our civilian court system demonstrated the pitfalls of prosecuting the War on Terror like an episode of the TV show “Ally McBeal” — a pathetic courtroom comedy. The trials gave the bin Laden network a multi-million-dollar, tax-subsidized defense team, free translation services, personal dry-cleaning services, and access to information that was allegedly used by Islamists “to become more adept at eluding surveillance.”
(sigh)