Bryan Strawser

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Archives for 2005

How Quickly we Forget

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Former NYC Mayor Rudolph Giulani pens this editorial in the New York Times:

It is simply false to claim, as some of its critics do, that this bill does not respond to concerns about civil liberties. The four-year extension of the Patriot Act, as passed by the House, would not only reauthorize the expiring provisions – allowing our Joint Terrorism Task Force, National Counterterrorism Center and Terrorist Screening Center to continue their work uninterrupted – it would also make a number of common-sense clarifications and add dozens of additional civil liberties safeguards.

Concerns have been raised about the so-called library records provision; the bill adds safeguards. The same is true for roving wiretaps, “sneak and peek” searches and access to counsel and courts, as well as many others concerns raised by groups like the American Library Association and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Given these improvements, there is simply no compelling argument for going backward in the fight against terrorism. Perhaps a reminder is in order. The bipartisan 9/11 commission described a vivid example of how the old ways hurt us. In the summer of 2001, an F.B.I. agent investigating two individuals we now know were hijackers on Sept. 11 asked to share information with another team of agents. This request was refused because of the wall. The agent’s response was tragically prescient: “Someday, someone will die – and wall or not – the public will not understand why we were not more effective.”

How quickly we forget.

Read the rest.

RIP, John Spencer

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CNN is reporting that John Spencer has died:

John Spencer, who played a dedicated politico on “The West Wing” who survived a serious illness to run for vice president, died of a heart attack Friday, his publicist said.

Spencer, 58, died at a Los Angeles hospital, said publicist Ron Hofmann. He would have been 59 next week.

Leo, his West Wing character, has in my mind always been the character that made the show what it was. Spencer played a perfectly believable politician and a great leader who managed to keep the White House on track week after week.. and through some particularly nasty situations – all made for TV of course.

My two favorite scenes with Leo both happened around the same time. First, the episode “Bartlett for America” where Leo is put on the stand before Congress to talk about what he knew about the President’s illness. It told a wonderful backstory and outlined more about Leo’s alcoholism.. and it ended with Leo crying in his office after receiving a Christmas gift from the President….

The best scene with Leo though was the one following Josh’s session with a psychologist.. where Leo waited for hours to make sure Josh was ok.. and this ending is perhaps the best epitaph for Spencer, who was an alcoholic in real-life as well as on television:

This guy’s walking down a street, when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep, he can’t get out.

A doctor passes by, and the guy shouts up, “Hey you! Can you help me out?” The doctor writes him a prescription, throws it down the hole, and moves on.

Then a priest comes along, and the guy shouts up, “Father, I’m down in this hole! Can you help me out?” The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole, and moves on.

Then a friend walks by. “Hey Joe, it’s me, can you help me out?” And the friend jumps in the hole! Our guy says “Are you stupid? Now we’re both down here!” And the friend says, “Yeah, but I’ve been down here before, and I know the way out.”

Go to hell!

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Via Michelle Malkin:

Blunt words from Iraqi voter Betty Dawisha for the Cindy Sheehan Left (hat tip: The Political Pit Bull):

“Anybody who doesn’t appreciate what America has done, and President Bush, let them go to hell!”

Go Betty, indeed!

Moo… BANG!.. Moooo…..

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Found this link via several blogs yesterday:

Monday night, a record number of noise complaints were received by Residential Security Officers in Roger Revelle College. Officers responding to the calls found the sexual activity of a deaf couple to be the source of the noises, which were described as “cacophonous” by witnesses.

The first officer on the scene, Frank Zipelli, reported, “I could hear those two all the way from the parking lot.” According to Zipelli, “It sounded as if they were bludgeoning a cow. There would be a low moan, like a ‘moo,’ and then a ‘bang’ and a higher-pitched ‘moo.’ It was like ‘MOO…BANG…MOOO!’”