Those were the days

I remember in the days after September 11th (no, not in a "yada, yada, yada... September 11th" way, which has become this administration's mantra), our first and foremost question was: Who did this? If you'll remember, we didn't know it was Al Qaeda, or who it was who did it. So when the administration was asked, how do you find out who did it? The answer? Forensic accounting. (They also said if you let fear stop you, then the terrorists have won, but this administration did plenty of work to help the terrorists make sure you were afraid, but that's another topic.) There was a huge buzz about this little-before-heard method of crime scene investigation. Basically it involved following the money trail back to the source to figure out who did it. In fact, Bush's own exact words were:

And by the way, this list is just the beginning. We will continue to add more names to the list. We will freeze the assets of others, as we find that they aid and abet terrorist organizations around the world.

We have established a foreign terrorist asset tracking center at the Department of the Treasury to identify and investigate the financial infrastructure of the international terrorist networks.

It will bring together representatives of the intelligence, law enforcement and financial regulatory agencies to accomplish two goals: To follow the money as a trail to the terrorists, to follow their money so we can find out where they are and to freeze the money to disrupt their actions.

We are also working with our friends and allies throughout the world to share information. We're working closely with the United Nations, the EU and through the G-7/G-8 structure to limit the ability of terrorist organizations to take advantage of the international financial systems. - G.W. Bush, September 24, 2001

So when a New York Times article came out that, indeed, that's exactly what they did, I thought, oh, they just did what they set out to do. In fact, the tone of the argument was that, unlike the domestic spying problem, they got all the necessary legal court orders they needed to do, and carried it out as they said.

So what's the problem?

Basically, the administration and Republican Party is still mad at the New York Times for highlighting previous and potentially-unconstitutional actions taken by the Bush Administration in the War on Terror. They beat their chest and cry treason, but it's really a first pre-election volley to try and discredit the press and rally their base before the election season heats up, just as it happened in 2004.

Funny how the press is only a problem in even years. Oh, and gay married terrorists are going to try and make you sing the national anthem en español. Boo! And don't you worry your little head about those problems with Katrina, gas prices, no health care, and we can't build levees in New Orleans because we need to build a fence.

Again, fool you once, shame on me. Fool you twice...