Two stories of delayed outrage – UPDATED

And they can both be found at Ed Morrissey’s place.

The first – the tale of the traveling Imams – Morrissey reprints a translation of a Danish editorial that spells out how ginned up and organized was the 5-month delayed “outrage” over so-called “offensive cartoons.” Outrage came after co-ordination.

Second – the tale of the backpedaling Dems who came by their NSA outrage very late – having been repeatedly and regularly about the program. Outrage only came after co-ordination.

Read them both. In each case disingenuity is the name of the game, and weakening resistance to terrorism appears to be the game. A bad game. In each case, a strong case can be made that these dishonest players should not be put in leadership positions.

UPDATE: Alexandra has more:
Apparently General Hayden provided a lot of details and apparent confirmation regarding this issue which must be provided to the public prior to this week’s debate. Importantly Hayden confirmed NSA was not
directed to adjust or change its monitoring and has been operating under an Executive Order from 1981. Also, Hayden admitted they knew Atta and other terrorists where in the US but could not act – probably due to the prudish FISA Court rules on NSA intercepts.

On January 23rd, General Michael Hayden spoke to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

Hayden informed us that his office has been operating under an executive order (EO#12333 from 1981) that gave the NSA the tools it is currently using — meaning the NSA wasn’t suddenly unleashed to go marauding every American’s privacy by George W. Bush.

“I [Hayden] testified in open session to the House Intel Committee in April of the year 2000. At the time, I created some looks of disbelief when I said that if Osama bin Laden crossed the bridge from Niagara Falls, Ontario to Niagara Falls, New York, there were provisions of U.S. law that would kick in, offer him protections and affect how NSA could now cover him.”

He admits that we knew that Mohamed Atta and his crew were in the US. But he says that “we did not know anything more” because prior to 9/11 “Mohamed Atta and his fellow 18 hijackers would have been presumed to have been protected persons, U.S. persons, by NSA “.

Pretty interesting.