Chasing Parked Cars
Liberals and Democrats are opposed to racial profiling and domestic spying conducted by our intelligence and police agencies. Come to think of it, so are a lot of libertarians and militiamen. And so they all jump up and down and scream about how we are losing our rights to the Patriot Acts. But how are we supposed to keep tabs on potential troublemakers in this country if we can't investigate the kinds of people who are most likely to make that trouble? There are a lot of people who want to charge the Bush Administration with malfeasance and all sorts of treachery and who demand to know why our "intelligence" was so poor that we "allowed" the events of 11 September 2001 to happen. But they don't want the government to keep those tabs and to harrass the supposedly innocent. These same people say they don't trust the government and that they don't want any more Nixons or J. Edgar Hoovers keeping any lists. They make it harder and harder for the intelligence community to cultivate the kinds of bonds with the kinds of characters who would know if something bad were about to happen. These agencies have had their human intelligence funding cut and the regulations circumscribing their behavior drawn ever tighter. But, still, the complainers wonder why our intelligence is so lousy.

No need to wonder. Just look in the mirror.