Shout This from the Rooftops

Best selling author Kenneth Timmerman has come out with another must-read for those concerned about the future of our country. His new book, Shadow Warriors: The Untold Story of Traitors, Saboteurs and the Party of Surrender, will shock and anger you-that's a given. The fact that weapons of mass destruction actually were found in Iraq after Saddam was deposed is just one of many startling revelations.

If you're not familiar with Timmerman's writings, you may wonder how credible his seemingly outlandish claims really are. However, to put what he says about a shadow government working in places like the CIA to undermine President Bush's policies in proper perspective, we need to return for a moment to the infamous 2000 election.

It was not for nothing that as the madness in Florida dragged on that year, the "Sore-Loserman" signs and bumper stickers proliferated. Democrats, liberal ones in particular, are notoriously sore losers. That stems from their audacious attitude that they are uniquely qualified to govern a nation of rubes like us. So, when they lose, they don't simply slink away. They put into action what you would expect the sorest of losers to do, getting even by not surrendering power even when they've been voted out.

Whether Gore himself orchestrated a revolt of holdover Clintonistas in the new Bush administration or they simply took it upon themselves is beside the point. One doesn't have to believe in conspiracies to buy into what Timmerman claims. After all, career bureaucrats have historically made things difficult for administrations that they disliked. However, the scope as well as the magnitude of sabotage in the Bush years may well go beyond anything experienced before, even during Reagan's administration.

What's truly breathtaking about Timmerman's revelations is Bush's naïve, nonchalant attitude toward an apparent revolt within his own administration relating to his number one issue-the fight against terrorism. No matter what the reasoning-he had to placate Dems still smarting over the election, he had small majorities in both houses of Congress, etc.-all of that rings hollow when one looks at the stakes involved. Bush's timidity and inaction in this area, so much in contrast to his decisiveness in Iraq, is ultimately inexcusable.

One of Timmerman's biggest disclosures was the discovery of tons of chemical weapons "precursors" by U.S. troops on their way to Baghdad in March and April of 2003. Not only that, a CNN camera crew was on the scene and in fact had to be "scrubbed down in extremis" to avoid exposure to the toxic chemicals. Of course, none of this was ever reported by CNN or anyone else in the "mainstream" media.

In addition to these "precursors," plans for nuclear weapons were found, and Saddam had kept teams of scientists on board in clear violation of United Nations resolutions. These plans and the teams who created them were disclosed to the press and to open sessions of Congress, both of whom chose to virtually ignore the claims.

Timmerman actually asked Bush administration officials why they did not press these issues in light of their critics' success in burying them. Their response makes ones' blood run cold: "We lost that one. Why go and fight a battle that we already lost?" Why? How about setting the record straight and righting a tremendous wrong? How about defending a president who was being savaged and vilified with impunity on a daily basis because he "lied" about WMDs in Iraq?

Congress has now failed to extend special powers inserted into the Federal Surveillance and Intelligence Act (FISA) that are needed in the war against terrorists. Because of their unchallenged ability to thumb their collective nose at the president at every turn for the last seven-plus years, and with the Democrats in charge, they apparently feel they can get away with anything, even their failure to pass a bill that is now a fundamental need for our national security. It remains to be seen whether Bush's ability to fight back, in light of all he's surrendered to his critics all these years, will be any more than ineffectual. And that, more than anything, may be the most tragic legacy of his presidency.

If John McCain wants to step up as the candidate who will take seriously his oath to defend this nation as president, then there's no time like the present to do so.