Weekend Politics: Patriot Act v. Iraq

It's another round of Weekend Politics here at The Delta Institute. Technically, they're more of "public service" radio addresses, but they promote political agendas, and play the game just like any other address in DC. This weekend, the President is urging Congress to renew the controversial patriot act, touting it's "valuable protections". But the opposition party isn't impressed with him, especially when it comes to Iraq, saying that he much "identify and clearly layout" different benchmarks for success, if he "hopes to regain the trust of the American people". Here now are excerpts from the two major party's radio addresses to the nation:

President George W. Bush (R-TX): "By renewing the Patriot Act, we will ensure that our law enforcement and intelligence officers have the tools they need to protect our citizens. The Patriot Act tore down the legal and bureaucratic wall that kept law enforcement and intelligence authorities from sharing vital information about terrorist threats. Now law enforcement and intelligence officers are working together." (complete address here)

Senator Jack Reed (D-RI): "In two speeches in the past two weeks the President has again failed to provide this plan and these details. Our military won a decisive victory over Saddam Hussein's Army. While the Iraqi people and the world are better off without that tyrant in power, our troops and the American people continue to pay an enormous price as a result of the Administration's mistakes and failure to plan and to be honest. No one can defeat the United States military and Democrats firmly believe that the U.S. can and must succeed, but the President's open-ended, ill-defined policy will not get us there." (complete address here)

Boring you with paragraphs, not essays, this has been another installment of Weekend Politics.