Wiretapping Mosques

Mitt Romney, Governor of Massachussetts, is suggesting that we are not doing enough to be vigilant in the "war on terror." He is not suggesting that Katrina demonstrates this fact. He is suggesting that, among other things, we need to increase our internal efforts and concentrate them on doing things like wiretapping mosques in America.

Here's a guy who described himself as "red-state folk," elected in one of the most blue states in the US, making a pilgrimage to Washington DC, and speaking before an admiring crowd at the Heritage Foundation, boot-licking his way through a speech that could have been given by Dick Cheney. In a single-minded disregard of the reality of the Bush administration's massive homeland security failures in the wake of Katrina, Mitt is pushing for ever greater restrictions on the civil rights of Americans, and increased intrusions into their privacy.

Mitt's initial instincts about Katrina were good when he said, in the immediate aftermath, that the national government's response was "embarrassing." But, in a realization that he will need those Washington "folks" to support his political future, he has, since then, focussed his criticism on local officials.

In all likelihood, he is positioning himself for a run at the Presidency in 2008. His challenge, of course, is how he can make himself more red than guys like Santorum and Lott. Can you imagine the historical irony of a Massachussetts Republican elected President?

Tip of the old hat to PJB.