Oversight Investigations for Creating Constitutional Crises
Libby Pardon, U.S. Attorneys, Watergate, etc.
By Mark Kilmer Posted in Archived — Comments (65) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
House Democrats have this week opened an investigation of witches, pumpkin heads, and black cats, scary spooks, and black bats. Something has them frightened, and they've proven that they cannot legislate. So they investigate, while invoking Watergate.
They investigate (Chicago Tribune):
The White House on Thursday pushed back against congressional investigations of the Bush administration and said lawmakers should spend more time passing bills to solve domestic problems.
And they investigate (The Hill):
The White House Thursday raised questions about the level of Democratic oversight, saying that the time the majority spends on investigating the Bush administration could be used to pass bills.
Bush spokesman Scott Stanzel told reporters during the daily briefing that the White House has been subject to an average of about six oversight hearings a day since Democrats took control of Congress. In that time, he added, the administration has turned over 200,000 pages of documents.
Oversight!
Read More….
Oversight is a dirty job, but the Democrats have to it. They cannot do anything else.
The Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise posits:
Oversight is an implied rather than an enumerated power under the U.S. Constitution. The government's charter does not explicitly grant Congress the authority to conduct inquiries or investigations of the executive, to have access to records or materials held by the executive, or to issue subpoenas for documents or testimony from the executive. …
Oversight also derives from the many and varied express powers of the Congress in the Constitution. It is implied in the legislature's authority, among other powers and duties, to appropriate funds, enact laws, raise and support armies, provide for a Navy, declare war, and impeach and remove from office the President, Vice President, and other civil officers.
Emanations of the penumbra stuff, but it is argued that Congress cannot fulfill its obligations without knowing these things, which might be the case. After all, how can they impeach and remove the President if they do not know why he fired a few U.S. attorneys. Schumer and his boyz have been working overtime to give that one political traction.
From the WH:
"They've launched over 300 investigations, had over 350 requests for documents and interviews and they have had over 600 oversight hearings in just about 100 days," Stanzel said.
From the Dems:
"His numbers are as faulty as the intelligence they used to make their case for war," said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
"In the last six years, all they've had is a rubber-stamp Congress. Since January, Democrats have demanded accountability, a change of course and transparency," Manley said.
Of course, Manley did not even hint at the Democrats' version of the numbers of requests and hearings; he's conceding the point while putting on the face of objecting to it. And he is claiming that Congressional Dems have to harass the White House because the Congressional Republicans did not do it when they ran the zoo.
From the Dems: This is a Constitutional Crisis!
And the Dems have another Constitutional Crisis set up for the media to cover, tongues wagging. (Rich Lowry writes about it at NRO.)
In the wake of the President’s commutation of Scooter Libby’s sentence, John Conyers (D-Michigan) will lead the House Judiciary Committee on a quest to determine if the President has the Constitutional power to pardon people (he does), and whether there are limits on that power (there aren’t).
"We’re trying to examine the use and misuse of the clemency power and the commutation power and we’ll be examining it of all presidents because that’s the only way we can determine whether they’ve been used properly and whether there should be changes considered," Conyers said.
To his credit, Conyers acknowledged that it will take a Constitutional Amendment to alter the Article II power to pardon. To his credit, ranking Committee Republican Lamar Smith of Texas describes the matter with simple clarity:
"I really on the whole think the Judiciary Committee has a lot better things to do than to spend time investigating what is a constitutional prerogative of any president, Republican or Democrat," Smith said.
It really is silly, as the Constitution grants the power to pardon and reprieve with no limit. It is a waste of time and public resources for a political show designed to help the Democrats capture the White House despite a paucity of seriousness in its candidates and to keep the Congress despite a lack of accomplishment and promises kept.
The word "Constitutional Crisis" is designed to lead people's minds back to the media-created abstract, abbreviated concept of "Nixon = Bad." It's Watergate, Bob Woodward, plumbers, and gaps in the tape. (They're even lamely trying it with Fred Thompson.)
Perhaps there is a sort of Constitutional Crisis, though; after all, the Framers made no provisions or recourse if the Congressional majority has gone insane.
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Oversight Investigations for Creating Constitutional Crises 65 Comments (0 topical, 65 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
I mean, the Vietnam template worked in Iraq - it is not much of a stretch to think the Watergate Template will work as well. If the opposing team is too stupid to defend the off-tackle dive play, I'd run it every time too. For decades. And they have.
The lap dog MSM will carry the water as far as they can for them. We need a Republican or two to cause a scene at the hearings. BUT - of course, as I have said before, that might lead to awkward moments in the gym or hallways, and we can't expect that much of a sacrifice from Republicans.
Such as all those post offices and federal buildings that have been renamed.
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"Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm." -- James Madison
They ran on ending the war and ethics. All I have seen is investigation after investigation. Why don't they just stop and deal with taxes and gas prices. So much for getting the work of the people done.
of the cameras, and not legislating.
And please, for God's sake and the sake of my wallet, let's not let them deal with gas prices.
I don't know if you've noticed, but every time they get involved in "the work of the people" - whatever that is - they screw something up to a fairtheewell.
More investigations!!
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CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
gives me the willies.
I shudder to think of just how much worse they could make things, because lord knows they would only make it worse.
Exactly right! It's a GOOD thing they're doing these investigations and not getting legislation passed, especially since it's a socialist majority. Plus the added benefit of the pressure they're placing on the Bush administration that will keep them from getting rid of more of our rights and launching new wars (hopefully).
No Coercion (http://nocoercion.wordpress.com)
I think it's time to hire Andrew Dice Clay to handle all replies to Dem oversight inquiries.
Ask not what you can do for your country, ask what your country can do for you. Washington Elected Elite
Rodney Dangerfield...
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CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
That's the funniest thing I've read here in at least a month, plus it would work wonders. Given how much whining there was from the Dems about Cheney dropping an obscenity on them, with ADC handling the job, they'd sound like a roomful of balloons all having the air let out of them at once.
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(Formerly known as bee) / Internet member since 1987
Member of the Surreality-Based Community
Wubbies World, MSgt, USAF (Retired):
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println("An argument is a sequence of statements aimed at demonstrating the truth of an assertion.); }
The Democrats may be crazy, and they may be arrogant, but they are not this stupid. At least I would like think they are not this stupid. In their defense of Bill Clinton during the 90's they learned all the ins and outs of the laws governing this stuff. That way they knew what they had to defend against.
So, what are they trying to do?
They are trying to do the exact same thing that Fitzgerald tried to do in the Plame investigation. He knew who leaked from the beginning, so he went fishing for a "process" crime.
All these investigations are to desperately find a "process" crime. Then with the help of the MSM, the news media corruption barrage will repeat the lie enough for everyone to believe there is corruption. It is the impression, not the reality, and they know it.
They want to send someone, anyone to prison, and if they take enough testimony, and look at enough documents, they are going to trip up somebody with a process crime.
They are grasping at straws because they have been abject failures with everything else. They are pathetic in my opinion.
Wubbies World, MSgt, USAF (Retired):
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println("An argument is a sequence of statements aimed at demonstrating the truth of an assertion.); }
It is a political witch hunt. The Democrats are looking for something the media can portray as a crime, or the appearance of impropriety, or something having to do with a smell test.
A process crime is portrayed as being as dangerous to the fabric of the Republic as is an actual crime, because the phrase "pattern of corruption" can be injected.
However, if Bush promised Libby a pardon (which I now expect Libby to get on Jan 19th 2009) as payment for taking the "fall", then Bush (President or not) is guilty of obstructing justice and it really isn't a political witchhunt then is it?
And does anyone really think that Bush didn't promise Libby a pardon for taking one for the team? If so, I've got a perfectly good (if slightly used) bridge in Brooklyn I'm trying to sell cheap.
but the keyboard was just sitting there and the screen saver must have been disabled somehow.
Still, to look at what we know and how Libby's lawyers "defended" him, (they just basically rolled over at the end) you've have to be pretty ... well, no need for any unnecessary insults... to believe that Libby hadn't been promised a pardon. Which is clearly obstruction of justice.
Take the fall for what? There was no underlying crime. Armatage was the leaker, and Fitzgerald fully investigated everything.
Libby was promised a pardon for him to do what? If it was for lying to investigators, it didn't work because they caught him lying by getting the information from other sources. So whatever he lied about was found out anyway and no charges we brought.
There is no evidence that a pardon has been promised for Libby. That is only speculation.
calling 8 reporters attempting to out a convert CIA agent and in so doing, destroying a CIA front company causing untold damage to our middle east intelligent network. I'm pretty sure if Libby had been a Democrat you'd be screaming that he committed treason. He wasn't charged with that crime, so maybe when we get an honest and uncorrupted Attorney General, this sorry episode of can be revisited and people that acted against the best interest of this country can be treated appropriately.
I mean, you do think that Libby (and Armitage) were wrong in attempting to out Plame... don't you? Or to you actually condone his behavior?
calling 8 reporters attempting to out a convert CIA agent and in so doing, destroying a CIA front company causing untold damage to our middle east intelligent network.
Gonna have to ask for citations for every last bit of that, especially because the word "attempting" seems to negate the rest of it. Again, this is mandatory.
He wasn't charged with that crime, so maybe when we get an honest and uncorrupted Attorney General, this sorry episode of can be revisited and people that acted against the best interest of this country can be treated appropriately.
When was Patrick Fitzgerald made Attorney General? Gonna need a link for that one, too.
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We are all heroes, you and Boo and I. Hamsters and rangers everywhere, rejoice!
You have asserted the following:
-- the 16-day old Surge is a failure
-- New Mexico is a blue state
-- Bush commuted Libby 's sentence for nefarious reasons that warrant an investigation
-- Bush has promised Libby a pardon at the end of Bush's term, for the same nefarious reasons
-- Valery Plame was covert
-- Libby outted Plame, and on purpose
and all along you've as much as said that folks here that don't agree with you are soft in the head.
I'm personally done with you because you are way off, and arrogant about it. Bub-bye now.
It's war -- so when can we start shooting back at the enemy Democrats?
I know... life is so much easier for the "elite" when the nattering masses are kept in their places.
And one of the other unfortunate aspects of Democracy is that even an idiot can be elected president.
We're not here to once again lament the Carter years. You have things to do before you get to post again. Don't make me disable your account to make the point.
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We are all heroes, you and Boo and I. Hamsters and rangers everywhere, rejoice!
Someone had to prevent the Democrats from finding out that BUSH HIMSELF blew the levees in New Orleans (after a similar plan worked so well on the World Trade Centers). Since the war in Iraq didn't increase the price of gas sufficiently, BUSH HIMSELF decided to go to New Orleans and rig the explosives, while Scooter Libby drove and Karl Rove slept in the back.
Valerie Plame, while undercover in the French Quarter as an attention whore, saw the whole thing but her secret video pen malfunctioned. She tried to call Joe Wilson, but Rove woke up, reached through the window and snatched the secret cell phone necklace off her ample bosom.
Scooter Libby returned to the car with his wetsuit on after helping BUSH HIMSELF plant the explosives, and saw Valerie Plame struggling with Rove. Her high heels prevented her from kicking Rove's ass, and when she took her shoes off, Scooter quickly yelled "That woman is a CIA agent!". Unfortunately, the only person that heard was Richard Armitage, who told Colin Powell and Tim Russert as they prepared for the Pride Parade that evening.
Scooter went to trial, and rather than rat out his boss (BUSH HIMSELF) he threw Fitzgerald a bone by pretending to get the timeline wrong. Rove got away clean because he was actually trying to rob Plame rather than expose her as an agent, and that was not covered under the special prosecutor's area of investigation. Fitzgerald tried to expose the truth, but could not overcome Rove's mind control evil eye. And BUSH HIMSELF is going to pardon Libby, I tell you, right after he releases Osama Bin Laden from the secret West Wing prison and shoots him in the head on the White House lawn, thus earning a much higher approval rating while at the same time collecting the $25 million reward, which will enable him to purchase Cindy Sheehan's ranch in Texas where he will live happily ever after.
Truth to power, Bear! Truth to power!
if you posted that on DKos, they would all be praising you for your clear vision.
"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle
Jack Savage as a covert CIA operative. He obviously has the inside scoop on the Bush administration...
;-)
Since I am such a threat to BUSH HIMSELF, I have been the unwilling subject of psycho-physical warfare. Most of you do not know this, but when BUSH HIMSELF was the "owner" of that baseball team in Texas, he was really working for Haliburton. Yep - Haliburton. While there he was in charge of the psycho-physical warfare unit.
To make a long story short, BUSH HIMSELF helped develop a program that would make men, even very young ones, suffer from ED. The resulting effects on their sanity and marriages would render them ineffective as warriors. Unfortunately, Bob Dole was accidentally subjected to this horrible method of warfare during some beta testing in Kansas, a fact which has not been revealed until now.
They are now trying to do this to Biggest Bear and myself. I have been able to counteract the effects of this hideous scheme by attaching tinfoil to my naughty bits (Reynolds Wrap / Heavy Duty). Biggest Bear has not been so resourceful, and we now see the sad results of the great lengths BUSH HIMSELF will go to silence his enemies.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
However, if Bush promised Libby a pardon (which I now expect Libby to get on Jan 19th 2009) as payment for taking the "fall", then Bush (President or not) is guilty of obstructing justice and it really isn't a political witchhunt then is it?
Before you get to post another word on this site, you have to identify where you got this idea, with links; we want to know who germinated a new variant on the same tired stuff and sent his commenters hither and yon.
This isn't optional, by the way.
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We are all heroes, you and Boo and I. Hamsters and rangers everywhere, rejoice!
Some of the other editors have a liking for the BLAM. Sometimes with warnings, sometimes not. Sometimes with a ceremonial flair, sometimes with a little razzle-dazzle.
But Thomas is like my cat Pete (kind of a small panther, truth be told). He likes to play with his food before he kills it.
"Here mousy mousy mousy. How about you do some homework, some research, maybe I'll let you live." As he crunches a hind limb.
It's war -- so when can we start shooting back at the enemy Democrats?
about Libby's defense strategy?
He was going to call Cheney and Rove and maybe even Bush to the stand for his defense. That's want any reasonable defense attorney would have done considering the serious of lying to a grand jury. Let's face it, normal people that do what Libby did get 2 or 3 years in jail. While an argument that "My boss ordered me to out Plame and then cover it up" would have still left Libby in some hot water, it could have certainly been a mitigating factor when determining the sentence - especially given who his bosses were.
Certainly the jury members that listened to everything both sides had to offer thought Libby was the "fall" guy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_leak_grand_jury_investigation
And then there is our "law and order" loving President who must have some sort of allergic reactions when it comes to pardons - decides to short circuit the entire process for dealing with pardons (etc) and immediately commutes Libby's sentence the moment it looks like Libby might actually have to report to jail.
Not only that, but "justification" Bush gave is not only laughable in the extreme, but now being used by just about every defense lawyer in the country as to why their clients shouldn't be sent to jail. What wife and kids don't suffer too much when their husband/father is in jail?
To say that Libby wasn't promised a pardon simply means one is being willfully ignorant. People have been convicted and put to death for murder with less circumstantial evidence than this.
And Libby will get a full pardon on Jan 19th, 2009 because that is what he was promised to kept his mouth shut and be the fall guy. You can bank on it.
And go ahead an delete my account if you must. I'll just wait of the "verdict of history" to show what an unmitigated disaster Bush's Presidency has been (if you can't see that already). And I also sure that at some point in the future, all the circumstantial evidence we have of just how corrupt this administration has been will be confirmed again and again.
1. Yes.
2. I'm curious as to your criminal law background. I've actually done it, so I'm intrigued by your fluid, supple, totally without any basis in reality approach to defense strategy, jury nullification, mitigation, and jury psychology. This in fact suggests that some idiot lefty blogger (but I repeat myself) almost fresh out of law school came up with this, and posted it, leaving you to offer it in Cliff Notes fashion. (What this means is that I'm gonna need that link, kid. Now.)
3. A venire drawn from the District of Columbia believes that George W. Bush masterminded a plot and used one of his vice-president's men as a patsy. Wow. Next thing you'll know they'll name one of their government buildings after a convicted crackhead. (Behold! A use for Wikipedia!)
4. I presume I'm supposed to take the massed ramblings of lefty idiots as dispositive of something? It's not the link for which I'm looking from you, so it must be something else.
5. Pray tell, what process is set forth in the Constitution for the use of the Pardon Power? I mean, the rest of this comment is fetid nonsense, but I bet you're going to give me a citation putting a procedural limitation on the Unitary Executive's ability to pardon at his pleasure. (This is yet another mandatory request.)
6. Ohmigod! Lawyers latching onto whatever they can grab to protect their clients?! Cats and dogs living together?! Is Gozer en route now?
7. I will need citations for both of those assertions, Sparky.
8. Well, he already paid his fine, which means at the least he's out one heckuva lot of interest, too -- unless (DUHDUHDUH!!!!) Bush arranged a black CIA fund with which to repay the interest! Ohmigod! It goes deeper than any of us thought!
9. Blahdeeblahdeeblahdeeblah. Good criminy. One, I don't delete accounts, I deactivate them. Two, get a new macro.
One that, say, gives citations as demanded.
Good luck.
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We are all heroes, you and Boo and I. Hamsters and rangers everywhere, rejoice!
These two yapping, lapdogs, who are investigating everything they can think of under the sun to find "dirt" on the Bush Administration, ought to be arrested for fraud, waste and abuse of government assets. They are wasting taxpayers money and diverting attention from the business of running this country. All under the guise of seeking improprieties.
Do they think we're that stupid that we can't see political witch hunts when they make so little effort at hiding their motives.
Have you watched Nostrildamus in action? He asks questions he has no interest in hearing the answer to. He only wants to attack and force people into agreeing with his premises. How did such a slug every get elected to congress? There must be a slime trail he's left somewhere.
Leahy is another mystery - what kind of constituents elect such disgraceful men?
Depending on who's in control of which branch of government at any given point in time, both parties are guilty of both excessive as well as insufficient oversight.
What would you want a Republican controlled congress to do if there was an overwhelmingly unpopular Democratic President?
Before answering "pass legislation", also assume that there are 49 Democrat Senators filibustering your pet legislation and you're consistently short of cloture.
Somebody upthread said investigation is good because it means they're not legislating....that's true.
These investigations are, by and large and on both sides, nothing more than mental masturbation. They accomplish nothing, they are intended to accomplish nothing.
Congress should be allowed to be in session for no more than 120 calendar days per year and should be required to be "home" for the remainder of the year. To say they are counterproductive would be overly optimistic.
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CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
is in session way too much, and the various hearings give the congressmembers opportunities to be puffed up with their own self importance (from either part, even minority party members succumb to the whole "I am really important" mentality).
Congress would be a much better place if they just stayed home a lot more.
and her trip to rogue nation, Syria? When will that investigation be taking place?
________________________________________________________
Halls of Justice Painted Green, Money Talking.
Power Wolves Beset Your Door, Hear Them Stalking.
Probably the same time they investigate Republican Darrell Issa, Rep. Frank Wolf, Rep. Robert Aderholt, and Rep. Hobson for the same thing.
Let's have an investigation. Heck, a whole series of them and take on each one the folks you mentioned along with Miss Nancy.
Next?
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CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
Congresscritters taking trips to Syria borders on the treasonous. Let us toss copious amounts of sunlight on all of them - though I insist on starting with the bimbo whose brainchild this was.
In other words, I'm game if you are.
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So libs, how's that Congressional Resolution to end The War™ coming along?
If the shoe were on the other foot, I believe the Republicans would perform investigations that have merit and only where there is the potential to learn something of substance. At least I'd like to think I back a party that still has some semblance of statesmanship and a willingness to go about the country's business. I do hope they had a wakeup call the last election.
The Democrats are launching frivolous witch hunts where the end result is known and in vain - case in point is the commutation of Scooter Libby. Everyone knows this is the President's constitutional right as was the firing of the special prosecutors. The effort is in vain except to continue their partisan politics. Remember, this is a party that would lose the war in Iraq to gain power. This is the party that would love to see the economy go south if it would hurt George Bush.
I don't think the Democrats much care about GWB at this point. I'm sure they see him as the overwhelmingly unpopular poster child of the GOP. I think that they see the stream of "investigations" as their only possible accomplishment in this session of congress given the veto power and the the filibuster power that has and will continue to thwart them in their pursuit of their legislation.
from the Ken Starr investigations?
your are either woefully ignorant, 14 years old or too stupid to understand should someone try to explain the difference. Which of the three are you?
Envisioning when all that is Left is the Right.
to the Dems. As long as the Democrats are committed to talking about, well, nothing, they are actually doing nothing. There has been a real scarcity of legislation coming out of Congress. More talk, less action, kind of thing.
The new ARG poll (http://americanresearchgroup.com/)shows 45% of Americans support beginning impeachment proceedings against Bush and 54% support beginning impeachment proceeding against Cheney. By demanding just oversight they are clearly not going to get the support of those people, nor of real Americans who believe in the Unitary Executive. That's why they have 24% approval!
haven't figured out how to use the "Reply To This" link in the blue bar of the comment to which you are attempting to reply. Please learn. Makes it easier on the old coots who have trouble figuring out who's talking to who about what.
Thanks.
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CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
... but maybe just a head fake. The Bush administration has been trying to make nice with the Dems for much too long... going all the way back to "going along" and allowing the "who named Plame" investigation due to the barking demands of the the "loyal" opposition. The left is NOT looking for concessions. They ARE looking to discredit, delegitimize, and defeat Bush, Republicans, and conservatives in general. That is the game they are playing. By Bush staying on the defensive and remaining passive in his response to these guys the Dems get to set the playing field, rig the rules, and dominate the spin for those in the stands.
... dang frustrating.
Jack
The World's Ruined
Time and again we told Bush not to be nice with these people. But he was generous and kept thinking that this was just like Austin. Now you know why Kennedy ended up writing NCLB.
Two words: "Jesus wept." We never thought that the D's would ever reciprocate Bush's "nice guy" bonhomme, and they didn't. They've tried to destroy him ever since he got to town.
The Clintons were never this gullible. They always went into a room with a baseball bat in one hand. Good for them. That's what I like about the Clintons; you don't have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to politics with them.
"History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it"-Winston Churchill
An old, tired, but still large section of the Republican Party who will fall for every Democrat trap, get raped by Ted Kennedy, and then grin and praise him.(does the name Lindsy Graham sound familiar?)
/the stupid party.
"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle
You are right in line with my thinking. I was going to say something along the lines of... The Dems come to the fight with a club, Bush brings an olive branch... the Dems come with a pistol, Bush brings a squirt gun...
By not wanting to look like a "bad guy" Bush ends up looking like the weak guy.
If you have to choose between someone respecting you or liking you... choose respect!
Jack
The World's Ruined
someone who is going to run against Lindsay Graham in the primary. I heard he is a businessman who has already raised 3,000,000. dollars. I hope S.C. can show the rest of the country how it is done when you have people who will not listen.
That's worth its weight in Gold.
The Democrats have no idea what a huge strategic error they've made by catering to their base by engaging in witch hunt after witch hunt. The classic case is Waxman's Ahab-like hunt for Condi Rice and her supposed "manipulation" of WMD intelligence. Rice, of course, baited Waxman into the subpoena and has stiffarmed him ever since, claiming executive priviledge. Waxman's quixotic quest for Condi is just the tip of the iceberg. Many of these hearings are designed as payoffs for one grievance group or another.
Now then, what you are seeing the Democrats do is substitute hearings for legislative accomplishment. What they haven't figured out is that this won't wash in the long run. The older Democrats, especially someone as veteran as Waxman or David Obey, should have figured this out. That they haven't or are rationalizing this conduct speaks to the extremism of the Democratic Caucus.
The only thing I can figure is that some real smart Democrats, people like Steny Hoyer and some of the Blue Dogs, are letting the liberals like Pelosi, Murtha, Emmanuel, and Waxman, get their day in the sun. When 2008 rolls around and Giuliani or Thompson walks into the WH, Hoyer can challenge for the Leadership, claiming that the American people were turned off by the leftist slant of the House. I'm just not seeing a lot of resistance right now from the "centrists" to the leftist Totenkopfverbande and their totemic Congressional leaders.
"History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it"-Winston Churchill
"When 2008 rolls around and Giuliani or Thompson walks into the WH, Hoyer can challenge for the Leadership, claiming that the American people were turned off by the leftist slant of the House."
I liberally conclude you mean that Rep. Steny Hoyer will seek the position of House Minority Leader.
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“Well, the trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, but that they know so much that isn't so.” – Ronald Reagan
...was precisely this. With a Dem congress, they'd keep the White House so tied up in knots with investigation after investigation, that President George "Compassionate Conservative" Bush would have neither the time nor the political capital for another "No Child Left Behind", "$1T Blue Pills for Blue Hairs", establishing DHS (protect the homeland from global terrorism by issuing new business cards), or having a third (and fourth) go at amnesty.
Little did I suspect W's capacity for tilting at windmills, teaming up with *those same investigataholic Dems* to push amnesty (and NCLB) AGAIN and AGAIN while calling fellow Republicans nativists, racists, bigots, misogynists (hello, Harriet Miers), and vigilantes -- and send his stooges out to intimate even worse motives (I never realized I wanted a death penalty for illegal immigration; I appreciate Michael Chertoff for letting me know).
Here's a hint for Chuckie Schumer and friends: look into the big business campaign contributions to BushCo, and match them up with forbearance in ICU actions. (Nah -- too many members of their Club -- Republicrat Incumbents -- would be caught in that net).
Somehow, I think not. Conyers and Friends will put on show trials that Joe Stalin would envy and the White House will send up acolytes to politely answer questions.
I wish Tony Snow would quit. I used to really like the guy and he deserves better than his boss.
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CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.