THE NATURAL WHAT?

Clinton Offers Advice to Party: Democrats Told to Stiffen Spine, Take Control of Security Debate (Michael Powell, December 4, 2002, Washington Post)

Former president Bill Clinton called upon the Democratic Party to stiffen its spine and take on the Republican Party and what he called its right-wing personal "destruction machine." [...]

"Al Qaeda should be the first priority," he said. "Iraq is important, but the terrorist network is more of a threat."

He lamented that Democrats somehow managed to propose a homeland security agency and, at the same time, to be blamed for the delay in getting the new agency up and running. But he suggested that the focus on a new Washington agency is, politically if not programmatically, somewhat beside the point.

Democrats, he said, should be talking about computer and credit checks that allow intelligence agencies to flag terrorists such as Mohamed Atta, who had changed his address 10 times in less than two years, or another man who had acquired 30 credit cards and $250,000 worth of debt.

"They're either really rich or up to no good, and it shouldn't be that hard to figure out which," Clinton said. "You can organize all the agencies you want," he added, "but intelligence must be more accountable."

I'll never understand how Bill Clinton got a reputation for being intelligent. Sure, he's a brilliant politician, but where's the evidence that he's ideas are worth a warm bucket of spit? The notion that the Democrats can take advantage of room to the GOP's Right on national security is nearly deranged. As his own example of the Department of Homeland Security shows, Republicans can easily accept any hawkish idea, even an awful one, and run with it. Posted by Orrin Judd at December 4, 2002 3:09 PM