Hamas defeats Fatah in Palestinian election

The recent ascension of Hamas to the Palestinian government doesn't mean the elections weren't a sign of progress, just a sign of how much further the Palestinians need to go. In time the Hamas government will be voted out for it's inability to make good on its campaign promises. Their main objective being the destruction of Israel, an impossibilty at this time with the construction of the Isreali wall, will make Hamas appear ineffective. Foriegn aid, vital for the Palestinian Authority, will be reduced due to the bellicose nature of the regime that rejects the road map to peace. And without a Fatah government to reflexively blame for Palestinian defeats Hamas will have no legs to stand on.

Elections don't equal democracy, but it's a start. And if Hamas breaks the current cease fire Israel can take solice that any collateral damage caused in retaliatory attacks is the fault of Hamas because its a popular regime that represents the Palestinian people.

Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palesinian Authority, supported by the Fatah movement, still retains authority over the 'security forces'. The defeat of his party in the recent elections shows that the Palestianians aren't pleased with the former government because it too couldn't deliver on it's promises. Abbas, a.k.a. Abu Mazin, appeared as a partner for peace in the west while preaching the destruction of Isreal to the east, an untenable position. Although under his leadership the PA gained the Gaza and parts of the West Bank, the Israelis were able to construct a wall to deter the most valued Palestinian weapon, the suicide bomber.

NSA Wiretapping: Security vs. Liberty

There are two reasons that the Bush administration didn’t go to Congress to change the law to make the NSA wiretapping more politically feasible. First, Congress had no authority to restrict the war powers of the executive. The Constitution gives the President the duty to protect Americans from enemies both foreign and domestic. Every president since the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978’s passage has asserted that he retained inherent authority to conduct warrantless searches for foreign intelligence purposes. The Bush administration was breaking a law that was unconstitutional. Second, more importantly, secrecy was part of the program. Only few in the Congress were informed of the program, with good reason. The NSA leak hurts American national security revealing to our enemies a tool we use to gather intelligence on them.

Has the shit hit the fan over this NSA wiretapping? No. The Democrats aren’t going to be able to win elections in 2006 with this issue. Most Americans understand the need for this program. In the face of the terrorist threat we must temporarily sacrifice some civil liberties.

Some say that we’re losing this war because we’re sacrificing our civil liberties which our Constitution was made to protect. They’re wrong because actually losing the war is worse. We can cease the NSA wiretapping program and even the Patriot act once the terrorist threat is gone. We can’t bring people back to life that were killed in a terrorist attack.

We have to sacrifice some of our liberties to protect the rest of them. During the Civil War President Lincoln suspended habeas corpus abandoning due process and ordered confederate sympathizers printing presses destroyed violating their First amendment rights. In World War II President Roosevelt ordered the internment of Japanese Americans for the duration of the war. What good is the Constitution if America is destroyed?