Law and Order is *always* a "winner" ... whether it's the war on drug or the war on teror and a certain amount of that money can be used on "joint" taskforces...

So, WOT funds can be used to "secure the border" and prosecute selectively prosecute to best effect... it can also be used to interrupt the drug trade, prosecute environmental "terrorists"

My impression of the American public is A N G R Y and who better to target than illegal aliens and "criminals" .. conversative "americans" have always disproportionately and irrationally F E A R E D minorities...

my hunch is that this is "bread and butter" politics ... at this point as far as I can tell, "we" may be beating our breasts about Guantanamo and torture and the constitution ... most americans are glad that "someone" is taking care of the problem... an awful lot of americans believe that anyone who "crosses" them or "us" should get what they "have coming to them" just like most jurors figure the defendant prolly did something to get themselves arrested.

If the economy craps out, expect more of the same on steroids, or crank ...

All those laws and surveillance are for the little people ... for the rich, they have great faith in their lawyers and connections.

Seriously, in many ways, Admadinejad is playing the international community like a violin -- he's being the REASONABLE one, the DIPLOMATIC and FLEXIBLE one ...

I wonder how the German people felt as Hitler advanced from one country to another, the further from Germany, the less "natural" the ability to rationally claim right of reestablishment of "empire".

It appears to me that the only way we can attack Iran is from the air ... unlike Iraq, Iran has an air force and a working army and may well retaliate against the american presence in Iraq and/or wherever our airwar is staged from ...oh, and they also have a navy.

I do not see a single country that will stand with us ... and the number who may be willing "aid and abet" (or just turn a blind eye towards) our "enemies" may well grow.

I trust there are cadres of industrious reporters tracking down the origins of the predicted "angry" reception committe member ... seriously, if they materialize, the story of exactly WHO these people are and WHY they are sufficiently "enraged" to publically demonstrate against this man's visit to the UN and WHY? ...

I want to know who paid for their printing costs? their buses? their hotels? Stinks of another "republican riot" like Florida 2000, to me.

boland amendment:

The Boland Amendment was the name given to three U.S. legislative amendments between 1982 and 1984, all aimed at limiting US government assistance to the rebel Contras in Nicaragua. The first Boland Amendment was to the House Appropriations Bill of 1982, which was attached as a rider to the Defense Appropriations Act of 1983, named for the Massachusetts Democrat, Edward Patrick Boland, who authored it. The House of Representatives passed the Boland Amendment 411-0 on December 8, 1982,[1] and it was signed by President Ronald Reagan on December 21, 1982. The amendment outlawed US assistance to the Contras for the purpose of overthrowing the Nicaraguan government, while allowing assistance for other purposes.

and

The Iran-Contra report found that the sales of arms to Iran violated United States Government policy; it also violated the Arms Export Control Act.[2] Overall, if the releasing of hostages was the purpose of arms sales to Iran, the plan was a failure as only three of the 30 hostages were released.[9]

[edit] First arms sale

Michael Ledeen, a consultant of Robert McFarlane, asked Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres for help in the sale of arms to Iran.[11] The general idea behind the plan was for Israel to ship weapons to Iran, then the US would reimburse Israel with the same weapons. The Israeli government required that the sale of arms meet high level approval from the United States government, and when Robert McFarlane convinced them that the U.S. government approved the sale, Israel obliged by agreeing to sell the arms.[11] Reagan approved McFarlane's idea to reach out to Iran on July 18, 1985 while in a hospital bed recovering from cancer surgery.[12][12] In July 1985, Israel sent American-made BGM-71 TOW (Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wire-guided) anti-tank missiles to Iran through an arms dealer named Manucher Ghorbanifar, a friend of Iran's Prime Minister. One hostage, the Reverend Benjamin Weir was subsequently released, despite the completed arms sale. This ultimately proved Ledeen's plan a failure[8] with only three shipments through Israel.[11]

source: Wikipedia (fwiw) // headers: Boland Amendment; Iran Contra ...