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Among Sonia Sotomayor's many judicial accomplishments is the piercing one of the federal government's unnecessary and counterproductive claims of secrecy--and the right-wing conspiracy theories it generated. As the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press notes, in 1995, Sotomayor ordered the public release of the legendary Vince Foster suicide note. Sotomayor's Republican critics may not want to call attention to her jurisprudence in this case. Her order helped drain the fever swamps of right-wing fantasists who said that Foster had been murdered. It also effectively silenced the editors of the Wall Street Journal, Rush Limbaugh and others who had kept...

Longtime Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu was convicted yesterday of violating campaign finance laws in a case that became an embarrassment to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other prominent Democrats, including Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell. Mr. Hsu donated nearly $40,000 to Mr. Rendell’s campaign coffers. According to published reports, Mr. Hsu also hosted an $18,000 dinner for Mr. Rendell at an exclusive New York City restaurant, in which less than 20 people attended. The governor reportedly referred to Mr. Hsu as “one of the best 10 people I’ve me.” He had also said Mr. Hsu “raised money for me...

"In the message played in court Tuesday, then-Senator Clinton said Hsu's hard work nearly left her speechless. 'I've never seen anybody who has been more loyal and more effective and really just having greater success supporting someone than you,' she told him. 'Everywhere I go, you're there. If you're not, you're sending people to be part of my events. You know, we're going to win this campaign, Norman, because you single-handedly are going to make that happen.'..." http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05/13/trial-prosecutors-play-tape-clinton-praising-hsu/

Former President Bill Clinton (L) and Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum attend a session at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos January 29, 2009 Russian Prime Minsiter Vladimir Putin, center, and former U.S. President Bill Clinton, left, seen during a reception hosted by Putin for participants of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2009. Second right is artistic and general director of the Mariinsky Theater Valery Gergiyev.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Financial documents filed by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton show that her husband earned nearly $6 million in speaking fees last year, nearly all of it from foreign companies. The documents obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press indicate that $5 million of the former president's reported $5.7 million in 2008 honoraria came from foreign sources. .. Kuwait's National Bank, a Hong Kong-based company, .. firms and groups in Canada, Germany, India, Malaysia, Mexico and Portugal.

This great and wonderful nation has survived many disasters and near-defeats. It will survive the appointment of the corrupt and inexperienced Hillary Clinton to head the State Department. It will survive the appointment of the One-Worlder, Susan Rice, to be our Ambassador to the United Nations. We may not survive, and our grandchildren and their children WILL not survive the appointments of Leon Panetta to head the CIA and Eric Holder to be the nation’s Attorney General.

From Fox News: Hillary Clinton says she will not be influenced by contributors to her husband's foundation as secretary of state. RIGHT!!!! In Roman times, government officials became wealthy by taking bribes, selling citizenship, confiscating treasure, skimming tax revenue ... and that's only the beginning. The Clintons seem to be reviving and improving on the practice of getting very wealthy as members of the governing class. After all, what better way to get favorable treatment from the US government if you are the ruler of a third world country than to "contribute" to the husband of the Secretary of State....

Although his colleagues on the U. S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee will be content to throw Hillary Clinton softballs during her confirmation hearing, I suspect Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina has moxie enough to throw the would-be secretary of state a nasty curve as follows: DeMint: Senator Clinton, just who Is Zdenka Gast? Clinton: Zdenka Gast? Help me out here. DeMint: Let me refresh your memory. Gast played a key role in Commerce Secretary Ron Brown’s fatal trip to Croatia in April 1996. Ostensibly at least, Brown went to Croatia to broker a deal between the Croatian government and...

Well Rasmussen has a poll that says 29% want her heinous to run as an Independent. A thought I put forward over a month ago on this very same Free Republic. (Applause Appreciated) Granted Rasmussen only missed the West Virginia primary results by sixteen points but hey these days polls are the news. So what about it? Is her ego so large her bitterness so great that she would make the run? Could she bribed out of it with a payoff of her debt, VEEP spot, or maybe ambassador to China? A discussion is going on at Redstate.com on this...

U.S. defense analysts now consider the Chinese air defense network to be the most dangerous system in the world. The Chinese system is considered more dangerous than the formidable Russian system. The reason for China's great leap forward into first place is due to the wholesale use of U.S. commercial products that make the Chinese air defense network flexible, easy to upgrade, and though to exploit. The Chinese investment into its air defense network is calculated to be one-tenth the cost of the U.S. expenditures. The low cost is attributed to what one analyst described as "Cisco in Chinese." Chinese...

February 1, 2008 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - If we are to believe the Hillary Clinton campaign line, the main attribute which qualifies her above all others is that, "She is ready to lead on day one." She derives this alleged standing from what can only be called political osmosis, having been the wife of Bill Clinton, serving as his "co-president." This echoes a theme which Bill stated often during the 1992 presidential campaign, suggesting that a vote for him was a bargain because the lucky voter would get "two for the price of one," thus providing a...

It's not that we expect politicians to have squeaky-clean donor lists. You try running for office without, at one point or another, taking money from someone you probably shouldn't. Even Barack Obama, Mr. Clean, has Tony Rezko. But the Frank Giustra-Kazakhstan-Uranium affair, blown open by The New York Times last week, serves as a reminder that the relationship between the Clintons and money has not always been lily-white. Here, a guide to the unsavory characters who have been associated with Bill and Hillary Clinton. THE DONOR Norman Hsu, Hong Kong "apparel executive." THE GREEN Hsu bundled more than $850,000 for...

Also, Bill Clinton seems to have used his influence to aid a mining executive by praising a central Asian dictator (contrary to U.S. policy) and in return received a 31 million dollar donation for his foundation. That's pretty sleazy. It also makes Hillary Clinton the latest in a long line of female politicians hurt by their husbands' business dealings.

Late on Sept. 6, 2005, a private plane carrying the Canadian mining financier Frank Giustra touched down in Almaty, a ruggedly picturesque city in southeast Kazakhstan. Several hundred miles to the west a fortune awaited: highly coveted deposits of uranium that could fuel nuclear reactors around the world. And Mr. Giustra was in hot pursuit of an exclusive deal to tap them. Unlike more established competitors, Mr. Giustra was a newcomer to uranium mining in Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic. But what his fledgling company lacked in experience, it made up for in connections. Accompanying Mr. Giustra on his...

The Clintons' Multi-Million Dollar Dubai Conflict-of-Interest Bill's $20 million payoff from the UAE won't end the appearance of corruption. In the most recent Democratic presidential debate in South Carolina, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama threw off their gloves and attacked each other for their suspicious and scandalous ties. And you know what? They were both right! Here’s a story this week that makes my point with respect to Hillary: According to the Wall Street Journal: “Former President Clinton stands to reap around $20 million -- and will sever a politically sensitive partnership tie to Dubai -- by ending his high-profile...

[Bill Clinton's 1996 declaration of] 1.7 million Utah acres as a national monument, thereby depriving an energy-starved U.S. up to 62 billion tons of environmentally safe low-sulfur coal worth $1.2 trillion and minable with minimal surface impact, was a political payoff to the family of James Riady. He's the son of Lippo Group owner Mochtar Riady. James was found guilty of — and paid a multimillion dollar fine for — funneling more than $1 million in illegal political contributions through Lippo Bank into various American political campaigns, including Bill Clinton's presidential run in 1992. Clinton took off the world market...

I am trying to explain to my 18 year-old daughter the baggage that HRC would bring to the White House, if elected (God forbid!). Unfortunately my memory is not what it used to be, and some details are kind of foggy. Does any freeper have a list (or a link to it)of Bill's Body Count? Thanks

A judge has ruled that disgraced political donor Norman Hsu's 16-year-old plea to a fraud charge remains in effect, meaning the one-time Democratic rainmaker is likely headed to state prison. Superior Court Judge Stephen Hall rejected Hsu's bid Friday to dismiss his 1992 no contest plea, and was set to sentence him to three years in state prison. Hsu also faces federal charges in New York. Hsu's lawyers asked the judge to toss his plea, arguing his right to a speedy trial was violated because authorities weren't actively pursuing him during his years as a fugitive. They could easily have...

Clinton campaign fundraising Transcript: Times staff writers Peter Nicholas and Tom Hamburger and National Editor Scott Kraft answered readers' questions on Hillary Clinton's fundraising machine and its hiccups along the way October 22. October 22, 2007 2007-10-22 11:02:04.0 Administrator2: Hello and welcome to the Politics Chat! We're here live with Scott Kraft, Peter Nicholas, Tom Hamburger and Johanna Neuman! 2007-10-22 11:02:39.0 Administrator2: Welcome Scott, Peter, Tom, and Johanna! 2007-10-22 11:03:16.0 Administrator2: Feel free to submit your questions now! 2007-10-22 11:03:18.0 Tom Hamburger: glad to be here 2007-10-22 11:03:21.0 Scott Kraft: Tom and Peter: You've been covering the fundraising of presidential...

HILLARY UNCENSORED. Just for fun, at the right of the video is an opportunity to make some comments. Go have fun. First, let's clear up some confusion. On April 7, 2006, Judge Aurelio Munoz ruled that Hillary was protected by California's anti-SLAPP law and removed her as a defendant. He made it clear to David Kendall, however, that he would entertain no motion to prevent her from testifying. Peter appealed that decision. The Appellate Court upheld the trial judge and refused to consider new video evidence recently obtained that had been concealed by a US Attorney. Bill, Gary Smith,...

December 12, 1997 At 10:30 on Thursday morning at Arlington National Cemetery, a team of gravediggers quietly dug up the remains of Larry Lawrence and carted away his granite tombstone, which was engraved with lies. Chiseled in stone were claims that Lawrence, the late millionaire businessman who became an ambassador, had served in the U.S. merchant marine and had earned the designation of “S1C,” the Navy abbreviation for seaman, first class, which would not have been given to a merchant mariner anyway. Neither claim was true. During his 69-year lifetime, Lawrence fabricated his World War II heroics, his education, how...

I spent a delightful conversation today with a field representitive in Exempt Organizations Division of the IRS. I related some specific evidences that Media Matters has violated it’s status as a 501(c)(3) related to it’s political activities. The representative advised me that a formal complaint should be filed with specific references of political activity as outlined in this guidance document (pdf). I told them that I would be compiling such information for a formal complaint. While not providing specifics I was also told that mine was not the first call of inquiry. Perhaps the ball has begun to roll.

Fund-raiser Norman Hsu: Dismiss rap, give back my $2M bailBY NANCY DILLON DAILY NEWS WEST COAST BUREAU CHIEF Saturday, September 29th 2007, 4:00 AM REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - Jailed fund-raiser Norman Hsu wants his 15-year-old fraud rap dismissed on a technicality and a full refund on the $2 million bail he skipped out on three weeks ago, his lawyers said yesterday. Hsu looked frail in a waist shackle and orange jail uniform as he appeared in a San Mateo County court. He uttered only a single "yes" when Judge Stephen Hall asked if he had agreed to a five-week postponement...

For the past six years, the road to Bill Clinton has often run through Douglas Band, a 34-year-old former White House intern who has helped manage Mr. Clinton's time, accompanied him around the world and even fielded some of his calls. Two years ago, Mr. Band befriended a handsome and charming Italian businessman named Raffaello Follieri. The young Italian, now 29 years old, had moved to New York in 2003 to launch a business buying and redeveloping Roman Catholic Church properties. He claimed close ties with Vatican officials that would smooth the way for deals, according to business associates and...

Sooner would have been much better than later09/25/2007 The Buffalo News It's the right move for the Clinton campaign to return $850,000 in tainted donations, but for a number of reasons, including another fundraising debacle involving a candidate named Clinton, it would have been far better to have done it sooner. Questions about fundraiser Norman Hsu had been raised as early as June. Still, it took until recently for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to announce that she would return that money - the largest amount ever returned by a single candidate - and cut ties with Hsu. In the meantime,...

No phony businesses or great train escapes in this one, alas, but on the upside it’s much easier to follow the money. One HillRaiser suspected of laundering contributions through frontmen is a fluke; two is a pattern. When Hillary Rodham Clinton held an intimate fund-raising event at her Washington home in late March, Pamela Layton donated $4,600, the maximum allowed by law, to Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign. But the 37-year-old Ms. Layton says she and her husband were reimbursed by her husband’s boss for the donations. “It wasn’t personal money. It was all corporate money,” Mrs. Layton said outside her...

Did The Clinton Appointed Judge Intentionally Throw the Rosen Trial To Protect Hillary? Did Clinton-appointed federal Judge Matz, intentionally unchallenged by the DOJ prosecutor, throw the David Rosen criminal case to protect Hillary Clinton?Hillary Clinton’s campaign finance director, David Rosen, was acquitted in his criminal trial in Los Angeles in May of 2005. The lead prosecutor was a 20-year veteran of the Justice Department, Peter Zeidenberg, chief trial attorney for the Office of Public Integrity responsible for all DOJ prosecutions of political cases .Zeidenberg was, coincidentally, the prosecutor who gave a very forceful closing statement in the criminal trial...

In a concession to Republicans, House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) has promised to ask the National Archives for documents relating to President Bill Clinton’s Office of Political Affairs. As a result, a Democratic push to investigate the activities of former White House senior adviser Karl Rove and other aides to President Bush could mean fresh scrutiny and publicity for long-forgotten meetings and presentations during the Clinton administration. In a letter this week, Waxman suggested Republicans satisfy their curiosity by reexamining what he estimates are more than 2 million pages of documents about the Clinton White House and...

Rendell can't spin away Hsu By Brad Bumsted STATE CAPITOL REPORTER Sunday, September 23, 2007 HARRISBURG Capitol observers were astounded when Gov. Ed Rendell called Democrat fundraiser Norman Hsu, a felon and then-fugitive, "one of the best 10 people I've met." They're likely more astounded now. Rendell made the comment to The Philadelphia Inquirer; it became instant fodder for Capitol insiders. If Mr. Hsu is on the governor's Top 10 list, who else is on the list? Incredibly, Rendell last week backed off the statement at his first Capitol news conference since the Hsu scandal surfaced. The governor threw in...

Norman Hsu, the Democratic fund-raiser who was a fugitive from the law, was charged today with bilking investors of at least $60 million in a nationwide Ponzi scheme, tens of thousands of dollars of which was funneled by way of “straw donors” to candidates for national office in violation of federal election law. In a complaint unsealed in Federal District Court in Manhattan, Mr. Hsu, 56, was accused of strong-arming his investors into giving money to various political causes and to candidates running for president, Senate and the House of Representatives. One of those candidates was Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton...

Norman Hsu Also Charged With Committing Campaign Finance Crimes Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu confessed to federal agents that he orchestrated a massive fraud scheme and pressured his investors into donating money to political candidates, according to a criminal complaint unsealed by the Justice Department today. The U.S. attorney for New York's southern district today filed the criminal charges against Hsu for allegedly putting together the $60 million pyramid fraud scheme and committing related federal campaign finance crimes. The complaint against Hsu alleges that he took money from a broad group of investors in California, New York and New Jersey, always...

NEW YORK — Federal prosecutors unsealed a criminal complaint Thursday charging Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu with breaking campaign finance laws and creating a "massive" Ponzi scheme.

A list of the donors who have "bundled" large sums from dozens of individuals to give to Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign includes several figures who were involved in the 1990s Democratic Party fundraising scandal that tarnished her husband's record. Among them is an Oklahoma oilman who testified in the mid-1990s that the firm he worked for, owned by Democratic fundraisers, sought to curry favor with Bill Clinton's administration by providing payments and a golf club membership to a Cabinet secretary's son. Democrat John Edwards's list of bundlers includes well-known fellow trial lawyer William S. Lerach, who raised $80,000 from...

A New York investment group run by one of the promoters of the 1969 Woodstock festival has sued disgraced Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu for allegedly funneling $40 million in financing for a nonexistent clothing company into political campaign contributions and an "extravagant international lifestyle." The lawsuit brought by Source Financing Investors LLC says Hsu fooled investors into believing they were financing an operation to supply Chinese-made clothes to U.S. retailers when in fact he was running a Ponzi scheme, in which initial investments are repaid with money from subsequent investments until the operation collapses. Hsu, 56, was convicted in San...

Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu is expected to return to San Mateo County today to face a 15-year-old felony theft conviction for defrauding Bay Area investors for up to $1 million. Hsu appeared in Mesa County District Court in Colorado on Wednesday in a yellow jail jumpsuit - his hands cuffed and his ankles shackled - and signed documents that sealed his extradition to California. The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office was given 10 days to collect Hsu, but Mesa County District Attorney Pete Hautzinger said in court that San Mateo County sheriff's officials were planning to retrieve Hsu today. Hsu...

Former President Bill Clinton stopped in the metro area Monday to discuss the state of the world with Aurora business leaders and also pick up some campaign cash for wife Hillary later in the day at a Boulder fundraiser. Clinton made only one overt reference to her presidential campaign during his talk to a crowd of about 2,500 at the annual luncheon of the Aurora Economic Development Council, held in Denver at the Colorado Convention Center, saying he hoped not to “cost her any votes” with his commentary. And, he directed no criticism at the current occupant of the White...

Hillary Clinton and her husband, Bill Rodham, are being completely honest in this presidential campaign of theirs. I know, I know, it's startling, but the Dynamic Duo of Deceit and Deception is, for once, being very up front on two major campaign themes without parsing words with an atom splitter. Those two themes are "we'll be safer" and "you will no longer be invisible to your government." This might sound hunky-dory to some voters, but the methods they'll use to attain both are what deserve scrutiny. As you know, another fundraising scandal has been swirling around Hillary – a revelation...

PA GOP: Fast Eddie Robs Peter Paul to Pay Hillary Friday, September 14, 2007 Contact: Michael Barley HARRISBURG —Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Robert A. Gleason, Jr. was not surprised to see that Gov. Ed Rendell and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton are involved in more fundraising scandals with another convicted felon, named Peter Paul. Paul alleges that Ed Rendell, then Chairman of the Democrat National Committee, told him to lie about his involvement with a 2000 Clinton for Senate fundraiser. “Apparently, when Sen. Clinton and Gov. Rendell need campaign donations, they dial up the list of America’s most wanted as...

Things aren't lookiing good. Hillary worried about these kinds of problems, but failed to prevent them: " Of all the possible vulnerabilities ... Some sort of fund-raising scandal that would echo the Clinton-era controversies of the 1990s and make her appear greedy or ethically challenged." Yet nine months into her campaign, Mrs. Clinton is grappling with exactly the situation she feared — giving up nearly $900,000 that had been donated or raised by Norman Hsu, a one-time fugitive and one of her top fund-raisers, whose actions raise serious questions about how well the campaign vetted its donors. As a result,...

To raise $850,000 for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign in just eight months, Norman Hsu tapped an eclectic group of donors that included wealthy investors in his apparel ventures, hotel shopkeepers, a 96-year-old in a Florida retirement home and an auto-body worker who mistakenly thought he would get a tax break for his political generosity. The Clinton campaign has not yet released any information about the 260 donors whose contributions it is now refunding because they were credited to the prodigious fundraising of the former fugitive, but a detailed analysis of donors Hsu brought to Clinton shows that he...

Norman Hsu was desperate for invitations to glitzy Democratic Party galas in California and private political dinners in New York. But once he got in, Mr. Hsu, a 56-year-old apparel executive, seemed awkward and out of place, almost astonished to be posing for pictures with former President Bill Clinton, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and other big-name Democrats. He gave generously, showering money on a wide array of national, state and local politicians. But he stood out in the symbiotic world of campaign finance because he appeared to want nothing in return other than a few powerful friends, according to Democratic...

NEW YORK — Revelations about the mysterious life of the Democratic fund raiser Norman Hsu have not only sent shockwaves through the mainstream political world, the Chinese are also left to worry about a possible fallout. Still somewhat new to the American political game and trying to figure out how to participate in the democratic process, Chinese here fear that Hsu is going to cast a shadow over every yellow face who donates to political parties and candidates, opening them up to unprecedented scrutiny. Hsu made the front page in almost all Chinese media after the Wall Street Journal’s reporting...

Norman Hsu was politician's dream who became a nightmare. He knew people, hosted fundraisers, solicited donations. And he was an unabashed fan of Hillary Rodham Clinton. Now in disgrace, his role as one of Clinton's top money bundlers will dog him and her presidential campaign while law enforcement authorities investigate his business and political dealings. Eager to sever her links to Hsu, the Clinton campaign this week returned $850,000 in contributions linked to his fundraising activities. But Hsu's troubles aren't over and the spotlight on his political connections won't recede easily. Hsu is the latest poster boy for rogue fundraising,...

ONCE A CLINTON . . . September 15, 2007 -- For Hillary Clinton, it must seem like déjà vu all over again (as Yogi Berra might put it). But for voters, Camp Clinton's panicky move to refund $850,000 (temporarily, anyway) in donations linked to former fugitive con artist Norman Hsu hearkens back to hubby Bill's sordid fund-raising during his 1996 re-election campaign. And the funny money isn't the only ghost from the Clintons' past. Newsweek reports that the senator is relying for foreign-policy advice on a triumverate of her husband's top advisers - including Sandy "Sticky Fingers" Berger. **SNIP** Last...

If fugitive Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu had not booked a train compartment across from Willow Springs resident Joanne Segale, he might still be on the lam. The retired Sonora Elementary bus driver, concerned after a night in which her neighbor had not stir-red, alerted officials after peeking through the compartment's window to see a bare-chested man wedged between the door and bed. She had no idea it was Hsu, who skipped a Sept. 5 court hearing — losing his $2 million bail — to flee the law and a growing media clamor over his past fundraising and business dealings. Prior...

Democrat fundraiser Norman Hsu is the latest person who raised money for Bill or Hillary Clinton to come to harm under mysterious circumstances. Hsu, 56, was on the run from sentencing in California on a 1991 fraud case when he became ill on an Amtrak train and was taken from the train to St. Mary’s Hospital. He remains in the Mesa County Jail on $5 million bond pending extradition to California. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., returned $850,000 in contributions bundled together by Hsu, who has been tied to $2 million in contributions to Democrats. A Web site dubbed The Clinton...

Editor's note: While revelations about the mysterious life of the Democratic fund raiser Norman Hsu have sent shockwaves through the mainstream political world, the Chinese media are wondering who is Norman Hsu and where did his money come from. NEW YORK — Revelations about the mysterious life of the Democratic fund raiser Norman Hsu have not only sent shockwaves through the mainstream political world, the Chinese are also left to worry about a possible fallout. Still somewhat new to the American political game and trying to figure out how to participate in the democratic process, Chinese here fear that Hsu...

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. Sep. 13, 2007 (KGO) - New revelations against fugitive financier Norman Hsu, and allegations that put him in the middle of a possible multi million dollar fraud case in Southern California. Hsu has agreed to return to the Bay Area without a fight from Colorado, where he was arrested after skipping out on a bail hearing in San Mateo County last week. Norman Hsu was in court at Mesa County in Colorado on Thursday. Throughout the hearing, he blinked and twitched frequently. Last Wednesday, Hsu skipped his bail and boarded an Amtrak train to Grand Junction, Colorado....

Fugitive Yung Yuen “Norman” Hsu will be transferred to the Mesa County Jail sometime tonight, Mesa County District Attorney Pete Hautzinger confirmed this afternoon. Hautzinger said he was told today to be prepared to handle Hsu’s bond-setting hearing Thursday. Hautzinger said he plans to ask for at least $4 million bond for the wealthy businessman. One day before Hsu was arrested in Grand Junction, he skipped a bond hearing in a San Mateo, Calif., courtroom. “Given that he failed to appear on a $2 million bond, I have to ask the judge to double that at least,” Hautzinger said.

I just finished watching a replay of the appearance of General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker before the Senate Armed Servcies Committee. In contrast to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (at least as described on our Forum), the questioning by members of the Armed Services Committee was mostly intelligent and probing. I include not just the questions of supporters of the surge like Senators McCain and Lieberman, but also those of critics, especially Senators Levin and (Jack) Reed. Unfortunately, Hillary Clinton was a huge exception. Unlike Levin and Reed, who asked direct, pointed questions (and received some admissions from the candid...