Thursday, Dec. 15, was a very historic moment. The Iraqi people turned out in amazing numbers to take part in their first democratic election. It is estimated that up to 70 percent of the eligible population took part, even with the risks of suicide bombings and other dangers. Americans have a poorer turnout for our elections without the risks. This should put us to shame.

Ignoring this good news, The New York Times chose to publish a story about a highly classified National Security Agency wiretapping program. In addition, the newspaper strongly insinuated that President Bush used this program illegally and was stepping all over our civil liberties and right to privacy.

Why did the Times do this? Its intentions are subject to strong suspicions. First of all, it is common knowledge that this rag of a paper is heavily anti-Bush. It is the paper of choice for all the liberals who look for any news, no matter how ridiculous, to use against our president. We will talk about these rabid anti-Bush fools in a later column.

Isn’t it strange that the Times had this story for almost a year and withheld it until the Friday when a vote on extending the Patriot Act was to take place? It claims that the government asked it to withhold this story; but remember, this is the newspaper of Jayson Blair and Maureen Dowd. In other words, it is more than willing to lie if it suits its fancy. What better time to publish a story to guarantee a bombshell than on the day of the Patriot Act vote?

Secondly, the story was written by James Risen, a New York Times reporter who, by coincidence, has a book coming out about this very topic in less than a month. Even a liberal would have a hard time justifying the timing of this article. I take this back. These individuals will stoop to anything, including blatant lying, if it makes our president look bad. Does Dan Rather come to mind?

I think it’s time to act tough. James Risen and his "sources" should be tried for treason for aiding and abetting the enemy with these leaks. It is clear that this top-secret, LEGAL program, which has already been proved to have thwarted potential attacks against our country, is now compromised.

The blood of any additional innocent American lives lost through terrorist acts will now be on the hands of these traitors and anyone else who supports the release of this LEGAL spying program.

You liberals have to learn to read beyond the title of an article and study the facts provided by more-reputable newspapers. Contrary to the lie that Bush was using the Patriot Act to spy on American citizens without a warrant, only e-mails and phone calls originating outside the United States and made by known or suspected terrorists were being tapped.

I would like a liberal to tell me how a warrant is supposed to be asked for in time to catch a two-minute phone call that could have catastrophic consequences if not monitored and acted upon immediately.

Also, while you’re thinking, make a list of all the "abuses" that have occurred by these actions. Do the same for Patriot Act abuses. The answer is none in both cases. Don’t you think that with all your hate for our president, you could come up with a few?

The last item to point out is that members of both House and Senate Intelligence Committees, as well as other prominent congressional leaders, were repeatedly briefed about this NSA wiretapping policy. We now have Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Jay Rockefeller claiming to have "discovered" letters in their files that indicated their strong concerns or objections to these policies. Liars!

The Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee suggested Wednesday that Sen. Rockefeller was suffering from amnesia or selective memory loss given his criticism of the Bush administration’s surveillance tactics (Human Events Online, Dec. 21, 2005).

The committee was briefed repeatedly. "There was always time for questions, always time for any point of view, and Senator Rockefeller was always in the end result very supportive," Sen. Pat Roberts said.

I am sick and tired of liberal radicals taking the liberty to paint Bush in a negative light, whether the accusations are intentionally a lie or not. Any American with the smallest amount of common sense should appreciate that President Bush is doing everything within his constitutional power to protect the lives of Americans.

Please wake up. There is an enemy out there who will resort to anything to destroy our way of life. Remember, there are no civil rights if our freedom is lost.

To all you liberals out there, try being supportive and less negative once in a while. You’ll feel better, and people might start taking you more seriously.

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Tom Sears is a professor of accounting at Hartwick College in Oneonta and serves on the Unatego Central School Board of Education. He can be reached at SearsT@hartwick.edu. His column appears every other week.