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| Daschle Says Americans Need More Than Duct Tape |
| 2003-02-13 |
| U.S. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle said on Wednesday the Bush administration must do more to protect Americans against a suspected increased risk of terrorist attacks than urge them to seal a designated room with duct tape and plastic sheets. Daschle's right: I've never thought duct tape would stop a Democrat. "This administration has to do a lot better," said Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat. "They have to do a lot more than tell people that the responsibility is now on their shoulders." Tell us something we don't already know. With a possible war with Iraq looming and the U.S. government having raised the risk level of terrorist attacks based on intelligence reports, U.S. authorities this week recommended that every American home have at least three days' worth of food and water in case of a chemical, biological or radiological strike. Officials of the new U.S. Department of Homeland Security also said families should designate a room where they could gather in the event of such an attack and have duct tape and plastic sheeting to seal it. The recommendations have generated plenty of anxiety as well as some ridicule as Americans flock to hardware and office supply stores to buy the items -- just in case. It's the American way: find the humor while getting the job done. Sen. Robert Byrd, a West Virginia Democrat and a leading opponent of war with Iraq, took the Senate floor on Wednesday and declared: "The mood of the nation is grim... People are warned of imminent terrorist attacks with little guidance as to when or where such attacks might occur," Byrd said. "Family members are being called to active military duty, with no idea of the duration of their stay or what horrors they may face. Communities are being left with less than adequate police and fire protection." Daschle charged that the administration made a mistake when it opposed efforts earlier this year to provide an additional $5 billion for homeland defense. The money would have been used on a number of fronts, from hiring more FBI and Customs Service agents to better equipping and training local police and firefighters. Or it could have been spent on more boondoggles that would have pumped money into favored Congressional districts. Daschle said Democrats would make a renewed effort to increase funding and called on the administration to back it. "It shouldn't even be a fight," Daschle said. "If we're going to be providing the resources to our defense forces, as we should ... we ought to be willing to commit the resources to protect our own people." Tom, old boy, we're managing. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson told a congressional hearing on Wednesday that the government has improved defenses against a bioterror or chemical attack, including by recently putting some medical response teams on alert. Asked about recommendations that homeowners stock up on duct tape and other emergency supplies, Thompson said: "Ask (Department of Homeland Security Secretary) Tom Ridge." |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #6 Typical Dims. We've got to do SOMETHING! What, they don't mention. Maybe they can find a rathole to throw more money down. That solves everything. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-02-13 13:44:29 |
| #5 At this point, a few wraps of duct tape around Daschle's mouth and Byrd's mouth would be doing them a favor. For every American that has purchased duct tape this week, there are probably 20 Americans that would just as soon have the press find someone else to cover. If these are serious issues for the Democrats, then the Demorcats need to find people with better reputations to voice them. The baron of Bush bashing and the prince of pork are not good choices. |
| Posted by: Tom 2003-02-13 10:40:31 |
| #4 up ptah, the admin was oppposed for several months. The dems were NOT opposed. They did dispute the proposed labor rules for the new dept - whatever you think of that (and there are reasonable arguments both ways) its unfair to imply they opposed the new dept. Dont know of any positive suggestions by Daschle, and the knock on Byrd about boon doggles is weel, hard to take issue with, but you dont have to be an idiotarian to be concerned with the admin failing to provide enough funds for local civil defense, and increased security expenditures, and for public health. To atomic - the derogation of civil defense was in context of a nuclear attack by the USSR, not a chem-biol attack by terrorists - while it may have been overdone, that probably had a lot to do with the elite being physically concentrated in places where civil defense would have been useless (like manhattan) rather than in rural areas. (celeb movement to montana, etc is more recent and is mainly hollywood, not newsies IIUC) |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-02-13 07:51:20 |
| #3 And WHO, precisely, was opposed to the formation of the Homeland Security Department? |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-02-13 06:39:24 |
| #2 Of course 'talkin tom, the people's friend!' has no actual suggestions himself as to what needs to be done, he's just sure that what ever is being done is not good enough for him. Of course 'the left', headed by 'talkin tom' would be the first to cry out that preparations for a disaster would only 'inflame the situation'. lead, follow or get out of the way. |
| Posted by: Frank Martin 2003-02-13 03:37:31 |
| #1 Civil Defense has been non-existent in this country since the Left ridiculed it out of business in the 1960s. Luddite anti-nuclear propaganda required that the American people be as vulnerable as possible. With the full support of the Hollywood/Madison Avenue Cultural Axis, various luddites and other power-seekers have convinced two generations of Americans that personal survival in a WMD attack is impossible or even undesirable. For Kultural Konformist sheep, "Survivalist" is a synonym for "deranged camo-clad gun-loon" and the word of mediatarian elites outweighs any possible combination of fact, logic, or even the survival instinct itself. It is outrageous to see Dash-hole and Byrd-brain, bought-and-paid-for allies of the luddite Hollywoodistas, now decrying our lack of survival preparedness. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2003-02-13 02:52:31 |