I'm amazed at the reaction in the blogosphere today.

I'm more amazed at the excuse making for Barack Obama's total lack of leadership on FISA / illegal wiretapping / telecom immunity.

Did anyone really think he'd bite the hand that feeds him?

Then, when the kabuki theatre surrounding the torture bill was reaching a climax, I felt a sense of deja vu all over again, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.  

Follow me below the jump - because I figured out what was bugging me...

While doing a little research on the issue of torture, and in the midst of writing still another post on the namby pamby Democratic Party response to legalizing torture (or, providing cover for Bush regime crimes already committed, take your pick) I ran into an interesting Pew Research poll from late 2005 on the subject of torture.  You want to know why this is all of a sudden a hot topic in the halls of congress, just prior to the mid-term elections?  Take a gander at this:

Noted GOP Sorority Sister Lyndee England signals, "Hell yeah!" (product placement courtesy of Phillip Morris USA© )

While doing a little research on the issue of torture, and in the midst of writing still another post on the namby pamby Democratic Party response to legalizing torture (or, providing cover for Bush regime crimes already committed, take your pick) I ran into an interesting Pew Research poll from late 2005 on the subject of torture.  You want to know why this is all of a sudden a hot topic in the halls of congress, just prior to the mid-term elections?  Take a gander at this:

• Video is said to show U.S. troops burned


• Attacks spark tougher Guantanamo stance


• Leader of al-Qaida in Iraq seen in video


• Bin Laden dead from typhoid, says rumour sweeping globe


• Al Qaida-linked leader captured in Iraq

This morning, we learn how Pakistan was goaded into becoming (on paper) a "partner in the warren terra" - they were threatened to be bombed back into the stone age by a high ranking Bush administration official - none other than Bob Novak's alleged Plame source, Richard Armitage.

Is it just me? Are other people feeling as though this election is kind of quiet and dull? If so, does anyone know how we can try to snap out of it? How can we get the same energy out of our activists in 2006 that we got in 2004? Or is a mid-term election, even one with a real prospect for changing control of Congress, just not going to be as exciting as a close Presidential election with high turnout in a polarized environment during a war?

Bob Casey, Jr.

I'll go one further - email everyone on your personal spam list, and encourage them to do so, as well.  They'll thank you for it!

How can you check your registration?  It's easy, and you can do it online!  The kink...errr...link is below the fold...

Without passing judgement on the merits of his explanation, I have the following message for all residents of the reality-based community:

Quit thinking like a Democrat!!!

This is one of those stories where I'm not even sure where to begin, because I'm still quickly working to bring myself up to speed.  As tuned in as I am to civil liberties issues, it amazes me that the SHAC7 case has escaped my notice.  More of that "liberal media" inaction (sic), I suppose.

You need to know that this diary isn't about animal rights activism, though - it's about your political blogging freedom, what you can say online, and what you can't.  Much more on this precedent-setting case below the flip...

All of this is kind of weird, considering the price of a barrel of oil hasn't dropped nearly as much, percentage wise, as a gallon of refined gasoline.  So I got to thinking.  Why?  In a water cooler conversation with a group of knuckle-dragging neocons at work, even they knew the answer: the upcoming election.  

But what was the dynamic that caused this?  More after the jump...

When I was stationed in Connecticut in the late 70's / early 80's, General Dynamics - Electric Boat Division was by far the largest private industry employer in the southeastern part of the state.  EB builds submarines.  With the cold war long ended, there hasn't been a lot of submarine building going on in Connecticut for the past 20 or so years.

Still, with a chance to submarine Democratic Party senate candidate Ned Lamont, our least favorite Republican from Connecticut took action to feed the war machine once again, even when the Navy didn't want it.

Background below the jump.

• Phyrrhus on the Potomac: How America's post-9/11 wars have undermined US national security


• Fighting on Borrowed Time: The effect on US military readiness of America's post-9/11 wars


• Losing Hearts and Minds: World public opinion and post-9/11 US security

Overall, terrorist activity and violence has grown worse, not better since 11 September 2001. Average levels of terrorist violence that would have been considered extreme in the period prior to 9/11 have become the norm in the years since. And there is no sign that this trend is abating. This much is evident from a review of the terrorism incident database maintained by the Rand Corporation for the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT), which is funded by the US Department of Homeland Security...

ABC's Path to 9/11 got a lot of pre-broadcast buzz for its controversial treatment of the Clinton administration, but it managed only a third-place finish for the night.

But that's not what I want to focus on in this post mortem - I want to talk about the Democratic Party players who didn't come to the table when they were needed...

But to answer the question "are we safer?", and (by extension) has the GOP made us safer, I'm not going to even consider terrorism in the equation.  Jump below to find out why...