Doug Ross @ Journal

New York City Nuclear Truck Bomb... and the Patriot Act

There's this:

December 18, 2005 — Federal officials are investigating the deaths and horrific injuries that would result if a nuclear truck bomb were set off by terrorists in Manhattan, The Post has learned. A national medical expert has told them the aftermath of such an attack would be a blood-curdling picture out of Dante’s “Inferno” — and the city is ill-prepared to relieve the horror. Cham Dallas, director of the federally funded Center for Mass Destruction Defense, discussed his conclusions at a Nov. 10 closed hearing of a congressional panel. He showed lawmakers data predicting 1.6 million New Yorkers could be killed, maimed, burned or sickened if a 20-kiloton nuke exploded at Broadway and Warren Street downtown. “We are not prepared for the 100,000 burn victims,” Dallas said. “It will be a picture out of Dante’s ‘Inferno,’ with all these people screaming in agony for days, and you won’t have enough people there to help them.” A bomb that size, similar to the weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, is considered “relatively small” by today’s standards for thermonuclear weapons, and could be detonated from the back of “a small rental truck or even a van,” Dallas said.

And then there's this, the 16 provisions of the Patriot Act that go by the wayside...

"Section 203(b) permits the sharing of grand jury information that involves foreign intelligence or counter-intelligence with federal law enforcement intelligence protective immigration, national defense or national security officials." In other words, that is a part of the Patriot Act that goes away. Does that sound familiar? You know what just get's re-erected? The Gorelick wall! The same thing that prevented us from being able to "connect the dots" prior to 9/11 goes back into effect on January 1st, because that provision's dead, the provision that permits the sharing of grand jury information that involves foreign intelligence or counter-intelligence with federal law enforcement, federal intelligence, protective immigration, national defense or national security officials. That's gone. So now anything learned by one agency can't be shared with another. Thanks to the Gorelick wall. It's back. "Section 206 allows federal officials to issue roving John Doe wiretaps for spy and anti-terrorism investigations." That's gone. "Section 207 increases the amount of time that federal officials may watch people they suspect are spies or terrorists." That's gone. "Section 209 permits the seizure of voice mail messages under a warrant." That's gone. "Section 212 permits Internet service providers and other electronic communications and remote computing service providers to hand over records and e-mails to federal officials in emergency situations." That's gone. "Section 215 authorizes federal officials to obtain tangible items like business records, including those from libraries and bookstores, for foreign intelligence and international terrorism investigations." That's gone. "Section 217 makes it lawful to intercept the wire or electronic communication of a computer hacker or intruder in certain circumstances." Computer hackers will now be, once again, protected because that provision is gone. "Section 220 provides for nationwide service of search warrants for electronic evidence." That's gone. "Section 225 amends FISA," this is the court, "to prohibit lawsuits against people or companies that provide information to federal officials for a terrorism investigation." That's gone.

Here's how the vote to end filibuster on the Patriot Act went:

YEAs -- 52 Voted for the Patriot Act Lamar Alexander (R-TN) Wayne Allard (R-CO) George Allen (R-VA) Robert Bennett (R-UT) Christopher Bond (R-MO) Sam Brownback (R-KS) Jim Bunning (R-KY) Conrad Burns (R-MT) Richard Burr (R-NC) Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) Tom Coburn (R-OK) Thad Cochran (R-MS) Norm Coleman (R-MN) Susan Collins (R-ME) John Cornyn (R-TX) Michael Crapo (R-ID) Jim DeMint (R-SC) Mike DeWine (R-OH) Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) Pete Domenici (R-NM) John Ensign (R-NV) Michael Enzi (R-WY) Lindsey Graham (R-SC) Chuck Grassley (R-IA) Judd Gregg (R-NH) Orrin Hatch (R-UT) Kay Hutchison (R-TX) James Inhofe (R-OK) Johnny Isakson (R-GA) Tim Johnson (D-SD) John Kyl (R-AZ) Trent Lott (R-MS) Pete Lugar (R-IN) Mel Martinez (R-FL) John McCain (R-AZ) Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Ben Nelson (D-NE) Pat Roberts (R-KS) Rick Santorum (R-PA) Jeff Sessions (R-AL) Richard Shelby (R-AL) Gordon Smith (R-OR) Olympia Snowe (R-ME) Arlen Specter (R-PA) Ted Stevens (R-AK) Jim Talent (R-MO) Craig Thomas (R-WY) John Thune (R-SD) David Vitter (R-LA) George Voinovich (R-OH) John Warner (R-VA) Not Voting -- 1 Christopher Dodd (D-CT)

NAYs -- 47 Voted against the Patriot Act (Republican Saps Shown in blue) Daniel Akaka (D-HI) Max Baucus (D-MT) Evan Bayh (D-IN) Joe Biden (D-DE) Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) Barbara Boxer (D-CA) Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) Maria Cantwell (D-WA) Thomas Carper (D-DE) Hillary Clinton (D-NY) Kent Conrad (D-ND) Jon Corzine (D-NJ) Larry Craig (R-ID) Mark Dayton (D-MN) Byron Dorgan (D-ND) Dick Durbin (D-IL) Russ Feingold (D-WI) Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) Chuck Hagel (R-NE) Tom Harkin (D-IA) Daniel Inouye (D-HI) Jim Jeffords (I-VT) Teddy Kennedy (D-MA) John Kerry (D-MA) Herb Kohl (D-WI) Mary Landrieu (D-LA) Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) Patrick Leahy (D-VT) Carl Levin (D-MI) Joe Lieberman (D-CT) Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) Patty Murray (D-WA) Bill Nelson (D-FL) Barak Obama (D-IL) Bill Pryor (D-AR) Jack Reed (D-RI) Harry Reid (D-NV) Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) Ken Salazar (D-CO) Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) Chuck Schumer (D-NY) Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) John Sununu (R-NH) Ron Wyden (D-OR) Bill Frist (R-TN)*

*Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) changed his vote at the last moment when he saw the NAYs would win. This allows him to call for a new vote at any time.

The Democrats (and handful of RINOs) are playing with fire. In fact, playing with nuclear fire. They're gambling with American lives that their partisan machinations won't result in yet another catastrophic attack on the United States. They are re-erecting "the Gorelick Wall" that prevented intelligence agencies from sharing information that could have prevented 9/11.

Only the next time may not be a conventional attack.

And this is reason #4,812 in my continuing series entitled, "Why the Mediacrats can't be allowed anywhere near the levers of power in this country."