Recently Karl Rove, making a rare public appearance while hiding from the fuzz, stated that he planned to make security the central theme of the 2006 mid-term elections. In fact, he said "Republicans have a post-9/11 view of the world. And Democrats have a pre-9/11 view of the world"
Well, *I* say...game on! (more on the extend)
If Mr. Rove would like to make security the focus of the 2006 elections, thank you very much sir, saves us the time because WE WERE GOING TO DO THAT ANYWAY. And here's just a few of the fun things we can focus on.
Port security. In case you've missed it, they still aren't secure. In fact, a recent inspection in Miami ended in $17,500 in fines (source). So not only are we not checking cargo coming into the country for, oh, I don't know, WMDs, but we can't even keep the port workers sober while at work.
9/11 Commission Reforms. Largely ignored it would seem. In fact, so largely ignored that the commission itself gave the government more failing grades than passing (source).
Airline safety. Not much safer, and looking to get less safe. The 9/11 commission report I just noted gave 3 grades for airline safety, and the government got a C, a D, and an F. Now, I don't know about everyone else, but if I ever brought home a report card like that, I'd have gotten in deep trouble. Maybe someone should take away Dubbya's storybook. It's upside down anyway. Oh, and lets not forget that we're about to create a "fast track" for frequent flyers so they don't get bothered by screenings. No potential for abuse there..not at all (sorry if any of that sarcasm dripped on the floor...).
Civil liberties. This should be a fun issue. When we're battling an adversary who enjoys warrant-less wiretaps and thinks it can just demand all of our search-engine records because they're afraid we're looking at porn (hmm, screwed up priorities, yet another issue we can hammer!), we damn well better have the upper hand. This needs to be a central theme. And the best campaigner has been dead for a long time, Mr. Thomas Jefferson. "He who trades liberty for security deserves neither and will lose both."
Border security. I know this can be a touchy subject to some liberals, but it shouldn't be. It just is not healthy to have a border so unpatrolled that so many illegal aliens slip through daily. Why? Because how do we know which ones are just poor Mexican immigrants looking for a new life, and which ones are Al-Qaeda operatives sneaking in for the next attack? This should be a home-run issue, I think just about everyone agrees that if you're going to get in this country, we damn well need to know who you are.
And there you have it, and these are just a few of the many security issues which we should OWN. Those who will have been in power for 5 years since 9/11 would have been very smart to not bring up the fact that we're no more safer today than we were on 9/10/2001. Thankfully, Karl Rove already drew the battle line. Let the games begin!
Heck, I didn't even MENTION Iraq...