W.H. Transcript / Video Clip of this morning's Presidential Temper Tantrum

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

Radio Address by the President to the Nation
The Roosevelt Room



http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/12/20051217.html

10:06 A.M. EST

LINK TO VIDEO CLIP

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning.

As President, I took an oath to defend the Constitution, and I have no greater responsibility than to protect our people, our freedom, and our way of life. On September the 11th, 2001, our freedom and way of life came under attack by brutal enemies who killed nearly 3,000 innocent Americans. We're fighting these enemies across the world. Yet in this first war of the 21st century, one of the most critical battlefronts is the home front. And since September the 11th, we've been on the offensive against the terrorists plotting within our borders.

One of the first actions we took to protect America after our nation was attacked was to ask Congress to pass the Patriot Act. The Patriot Act tore down the legal and bureaucratic wall that kept law enforcement and intelligence authorities from sharing vital information about terrorist threats. And the Patriot Act allowed federal investigators to pursue terrorists with tools they already used against other criminals. Congress passed this law with a large, bipartisan majority, including a vote of 98-1 in the United States Senate.

Since then, America's law enforcement personnel have used this critical law to prosecute terrorist operatives and supporters, and to break up terrorist cells in New York, Oregon, Virginia, California, Texas and Ohio. The Patriot Act has accomplished exactly what it was designed to do: it has protected American liberty and saved American lives.

Yet key provisions of this law are set to expire in two weeks. The terrorist threat to our country will not expire in two weeks. The terrorists want to attack America again, and inflict even greater damage than they did on September the 11th. Congress has a responsibility to ensure that law enforcement and intelligence officials have the tools they need to protect the American people.

The House of Representatives passed reauthorization of the Patriot Act. Yet a minority of senators filibustered to block the renewal of the Patriot Act when it came up for a vote yesterday. That decision is irresponsible, and it endangers the lives of our citizens. The senators who are filibustering must stop their delaying tactics, and the Senate must vote to reauthorize the Patriot Act. In the war on terror, we cannot afford to be without this law for a single moment.

To fight the war on terror, I am using authority vested in me by Congress, including the Joint Authorization for Use of Military Force, which passed overwhelmingly in the first week after September the 11th. I'm also using constitutional authority vested in me as Commander-in-Chief.

In the weeks following the terrorist attacks on our nation, I authorized the National Security Agency, consistent with U.S. law and the Constitution, to intercept the international communications of people with known links to al Qaeda and related terrorist organizations. Before we intercept these communications, the government must have information that establishes a clear link to these terrorist networks.

This is a highly classified program that is crucial to our national security. Its purpose is to detect and prevent terrorist attacks against the United States, our friends and allies. Yesterday the existence of this secret program was revealed in media reports, after being improperly provided to news organizations. As a result, our enemies have learned information they should not have, and the unauthorized disclosure of this effort damages our national security and puts our citizens at risk. Revealing classified information is illegal, alerts our enemies, and endangers our country.

As the 9/11 Commission pointed out, it was clear that terrorists inside the United States were communicating with terrorists abroad before the September the 11th attacks, and the commission criticized our nation's inability to uncover links between terrorists here at home and terrorists abroad. Two of the terrorist hijackers who flew a jet into the Pentagon, Nawaf al Hamzi and Khalid al Mihdhar, communicated while they were in the United States to other members of al Qaeda who were overseas. But we didn't know they were here, until it was too late.

The authorization I gave the National Security Agency after September the 11th helped address that problem in a way that is fully consistent with my constitutional responsibilities and authorities. The activities I have authorized make it more likely that killers like these 9/11 hijackers will be identified and located in time. And the activities conducted under this authorization have helped detect and prevent possible terrorist attacks in the United States and abroad.

The activities I authorized are reviewed approximately every 45 days. Each review is based on a fresh intelligence assessment of terrorist threats to the continuity of our government and the threat of catastrophic damage to our homeland. During each assessment, previous activities under the authorization are reviewed. The review includes approval by our nation's top legal officials, including the Attorney General and the Counsel to the President. I have reauthorized this program more than 30 times since the September the 11th attacks, and I intend to do so for as long as our nation faces a continuing threat from al Qaeda and related groups.

The NSA's activities under this authorization are thoroughly reviewed by the Justice Department and NSA's top legal officials, including NSA's general counsel and inspector general. Leaders in Congress have been briefed more than a dozen times on this authorization and the activities conducted under it. Intelligence officials involved in this activity also receive extensive training to ensure they perform their duties consistent with the letter and intent of the authorization.

This authorization is a vital tool in our war against the terrorists. It is critical to saving American lives. The American people expect me to do everything in my power under our laws and Constitution to protect them and their civil liberties. And that is exactly what I will continue to do, so long as I'm the President of the United States.

Thank you.

END 10:13 A.M. EST

[Poll_Blind]

1. Is it me or did they disable the video? Is anyone able to get the link...

...OR the link from the Shite-Haus page to work?

PB

[virtual disobedience]

3. Vid link works for me

But I had to stop it after the first few words:

"As President, I took an oath to defend the Constitution,"

Too sad.

[Imagine My Surprise]

10. And I had to stop watching it right after he mentioned Sept 11...

which was, of course, his next sentence.

[newyawker99]

13. Hi virtual disobedience!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[NoQuarter]

4. Works for me (nt)

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

7. It just worked for me...

...and I watched the clip twice right before posting it.

I clicked the link in my thread and it opened a new window with the correct page. It's a RealPlayer clip...do you have it installed?

[0007]

12. Worked great for me....but ya gotta watch out for agent Mike

he one tricky dude..LOL!

[tuvor]

2. He starts off with 9/11, and invokes it 8 more times! n/t

[BlueEyedSon]

5. He got to the 9/11 reference faster than I was betting, I lost the pool!

[w13rd0]

6. THE GALL...

...of this man, to talk about how grevious a felony it is to reveal classified information (that he's tapping people), when his TOP political advisor and his VPs TOP political advisor are KNOWN to have revealed CLASSIFIED INFORMATION, is just ASTONISHING!

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

8. I know...

:patriot:

But he can't comment on the Karl Rove / Scooter Libby thing because it's an ongoing investigation.

:silly:

[Al-CIAda]

9. If only the Dems told the truth and expose the 'failure' on and before

9/11, the treason and propaganda could have been stopped. Without that false narrative and mythology that at the least he did nothing to prevent it, 9/11 would be a more accurate reminder of his FAILURE rather than his manipulative rallying cry.

[uppityperson]

11. rewritten speech here

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning.

As President, I took an oath to defend the Constitution, and I have no greater responsibility than to protect our people, our freedom, and our way of life. I am proud to say that I have never lived up to any of my responsibilities, and I will continue on keeping my record clear. On March the 20th, 2003, our freedom and way of life came under attack by my and my brutal cohorts who killed nearly 3,000 innocent Americans. We're killinging these citizens across the world. Yet in this first war of the 21st century, one of the most critical battlefronts is the home front. And since September the 11th, we've been on the offensive against any dissenters or my policies within our borders.

One of the first actions we took to limit Americans after our nation was attacked was to ask Congress to pass the Patriot Act. The Patriot Act tore down the legal and bureaucratic wall that kept law enforcement and intelligence authorities from sharing information about anyone and anything we wanted to know. And the Patriot Act allowed federal investigators to pursue anyone with tools they already used against other criminals. Congress foolishly passed this law during a time of fear with a large, bipartisan majority, including a vote of 98-1 in the United States Senate.

Since then, America's law enforcement personnel have used this critical law to prosecute nonsupporters of my administration, and to break up groups of random peaceniks in New York, Oregon, Virginia, California, Texas and Ohio. The Patriot Act has accomplished exactly what it was designed to do: it has protected me and saved me brazillions of excuses about my administrations behaviour.

Yet key provisions of this law are set to expire in two weeks. The terrorist threat to our country will not expire in two weeks. The terrorists want to attack America again, and inflict even greater damage than they did on September the 11th. They want to remove me from office, along with all those patriots who have stood beside and behind me. Congress has a responsibility to ensure that law enforcement and intelligence officials have the tools they need to protect the cabal.

The House of Representatives passed reauthorization of the Patriot Act. Yet a minority of unpatriotic fredomhating islamofascist loving senators wrongfully filibustered to block the renewal of the immenselly necessary Patriot Act when it came up for a vote yesterday. That decision is irresponsible, and it endangers the lives of our citizens. The senators who are filibustering must stop their delaying tactics, and the Senate must vote to reauthorize the Patriot Act. In the war on terror, we cannot afford to be without this law for a single moment. If we give you the idea you actually have some rights, who knows what will happen?

To fight the war on terror, I am using authority vested in me by Congress, including the Joint Authorization for Use of Military Force, which passed overwhelmingly in the first week after September the 11th. I'm also using constitutional authority vested in me as Commander-in-Chief. Hahahaha, I can do whatever I want because I am The Ruler!

In the weeks following the terrorist attacks on our nation, I authorized the National Security Agency, consistent with U.S. law and the Constitution, to intercept the international communications of people with known links to any organization I didn't like. Or anyone saying anything remotely negative about me. Or Laura. Or Dick. Before we intercept these communications, the government must have information that establishes a clear link to anyone I don't like.

This is a highly classified program that is crucial to our national security. Its purpose is to detect and prevent attacks by you, our friends and allies. Yesterday the existence of this secret program was revealed in media reports, after being improperly provided to news organizations. As a result, our citizens have learned information they should not have, should not have troubled their little minds with during this shopping season, and the unauthorized disclosure of this effort damages our national security and puts our citizens at risk of knowing how much we control their lives. Revealing classified information is illegal, alerts our citizens and endangers our overwhelming powers to rule you.

As the 9/11 Commission pointed out, it was clear that we were warned and chose to ignore those warnings, and the commission criticized our nation's inability to make us believe there were links between terrorists here at home, terrorists abroad and our cabal. Two of the terrorist hijackers who flew a jet into the Pentagon, Nawaf al Hamzi and Khalid al Mihdhar, communicated while they were in the United States to other members of al Qaeda who were overseas. We knew they were here, and didn't care until it was too late.

The authorization I gave the National Security Agency after September the 11th helped address the problem of you uppity people thinking you could critisize me in a way that is fully consistent with my percieved constitutional responsibilities and authorities as Supreme Ruler. The activities I have authorized make it more likely that anyone critical of me will be identified and located before they can undermine my power. And the activities conducted under this authorization have helped detect and prevent possible critisism in the United States and abroad.

The activities I authorized are reviewed approximately every 45 days and renewed regardless of any reviewing by me and Dick. Each review is based on a fresh intelligence assessment of threats to the continuity of our government and the threat of catastrophic damage to our power and pocketbooks. During each assessment, previous activities under the authorization are reviewed. The review includes approval by our nation's top legal officials, all appointed by me, including the Attorney General and the Counsel to the President. I have reauthorized this program more than 30 times since the September the 11th attacks, and I intend to do so for as long as our nation faces a continuing threat from anyone remotely critical of my administration.

The NSA's activities under this authorization are thoroughly reviewed by my appointed Justice Department and NSA's top legal officials, also appointed by me, including NSA's general counsel and inspector general. Leaders in Congress have been briefed more than a dozen times on this authorization and the activities conducted under it. Intelligence officials involved in this activity also receive extensive training by me to ensure they perform their duties consistent with the letter and intent of the authorization. Anyone who protests the lack of outside oversight is only giving support to The Enemy and will be placed on our continuing observation list.

This authorization is a vital tool in our war to remain in power. It is critical to saving American lives to better serve us. The American sheeple expect me to do everything in my power under our laws and Constitution regardless their civil liberties. And that is exactly what I will continue to do, so long as I'm the President of the United States.

Thank you.