Senator John Davison Rockefeller IV, otherwise known as “Jay” Rockefeller, is a four-term member of the U.S. Senate from West Virginia and a great-grandson of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller. He is the youngest in a long line of prominent politicians and financiers, including former Vice President Nelson A. Rockefeller, former Arkansas Governor Winthrop Rockefeller, and. banker David Rockefeller. The only Democrat in what has always been a staunchly Republican family, he is also the son-in-law of former Republican Senator Charles H. Percy, of Illinois.
Rockefeller currently serves as Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, a position he held from 2002-03, and one he reclaimed when Democrats regained Senate control in 2006.
In January 2002, Rockefeller met with Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Syria, during which time he discussed the threat posed by their neighbor, Iraq. In October of that year, as the Senate debated whether to authorize military action against Iraq, he said, “I do believe that Iraq poses an imminent threat, but I also believe that after September 11, that question is increasingly outdated. It is in the nature of these weapons, and the way they are targeted against civilian populations, that documented capability and demonstrated intent may be the only warning we get. To insist on further evidence could put some of our fellow Americans at risk. Can we afford to take that chance? We cannot!”
However, as Rockefeller was supporting the war effort on the Senate floor, the Senate Intelligence Committee was presented with a plan authorized by the Republican-controlled House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), a plan designed to remove Saddam Hussein from power without the necessity of military force. And although the Intelligence Committee staff was highly supportive of the HPSCI plan, Rockefeller refused to consider the proposal and voted instead to take the country to war.
In November 2003, as the Senate Intelligence Committee evaluated the efficacy of pre-war intelligence, committee Democrats circulated a staff memorandum outlining a plan to use top-secret committee information in an attempt to defeat George W. Bush for reelection in 2004. The memo suggested that committee Democrats “pull (Republicans) along,” that they prepare Democratic “additional views,” that they “castigate” Republicans for seeking to limit the scope of the inquiry, that they “pull the trigger” on an independent investigation...suggesting that “the best time to do so will probably be next year (when the president is running for reelection).”
Had Rockefeller possessed an ounce of decency he would have resigned from the Intelligence Committee...but he didn’t.
And now, as Hillary Clinton pursues her campaign for the 2008 Democrat presidential nomination, documents have been released which detail Rockefeller’s role in strategizing her 1993 health care plan. In a 24-page confidential memorandum to Mrs. Clinton, dated May 26, 1993, Rockefeller complained that the Healthcare Task Force was seen as “a secret cabal of Washington policy ‘wonks’.” He goes on to suggest that White House political operatives:
▪ Undermine opponents by painting them as “perpetrators and beneficiaries” of the healthcare problem, by isolating opponents from each other, and by seeing to it that they are not allowed “even one day without scrutiny.”
▪ Continue to highlight the problem, those who caused it, and those who profit from it. He recommended that this be done prior to the official unveiling of the plan when “the Administration has the upper-hand,” when opponents must try to attack “without a clear target,” and when opponents are vulnerable to charges of being “selfish, short-sighted, and callous.”
▪ Use classic “opposition research” methods to expose opponents as “professional lobbyists” with values and interests divorced from average Americans. He recommended that the White House document “salaries, perks, and ideological extremism” of opponents, collect opposition mailings, track ad campaigns, and investigate expenditures, and that all of this information be shared with the press.
▪ Expose the lifestyles, tactics, and motives of those who would presumably be most solidly opposed to the health care plan, most notably lobbyists for small business interests, and that they avoid any discussion of the impact on abortions or reproductive services.
And finally, if there remains a living, breathing soul who doubts that the mainstream media regularly conspire with Democrats against the best interests of the American people, Rockefeller lays those doubts to rest. He advised Mrs. Clinton that, “Right now, every news organization is planning expanded coverage of health care. News directors, planners, and editors, and features producers and editors are anxious and willing to receive guidance (from the White House) on how to time and shape their coverage.
Columnist Jonah Goldberg is the author of a blockbuster new book, Liberal Fascism, which places the epicenter of modern day fascism squarely where it belongs: at the heart of American liberalism. I haven’t read the book as yet, but I fully expect to find a chapter titled, Jay Rockefeller.