This quote from Sen. Leahy about the Bush administration captures the point pretty succinctly:
LEAHY: Every time this administration screws up, whether it’s with homeland security, after Katrina, a massive failure even though they spent billions of dollars to make sure that thing wouldn’t happen, when they screw up along the border, when they get caught doing illegal surveillance of Americans, they say, well, but 9/11, 9/11.
Well, I’d remind them 9/11 happened on their watch. I think Americans are getting fed up with simply using an excuse for your mistakes and classify everything else so that you can’t talk about it.
I want us to be safe. I don’t think that this administration is doing it the right way. They screwed up with homeland security. They screwed up with Katrina. I mean, after all, they were told, go catch a 6’6″ Arab running around Afghanistan, probably on dialysis, according to the press reports, Osama bin Laden.
I saw that this a.m. and could barely believe it. It was great to finally hear somebody like Leahy saying the obvious: how Bush’s incompetence makes us LESS safe.
heh indeedy