Posted on 06/10/2005 2:05:01 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
WASHINGTON - The Republican chairman walked off with the gavel, leaving Democrats shouting into turned-off microphones at a raucous hearing Friday on the Patriot Act.
The House Judiciary Committee hearing, with the two sides accusing each other of being irresponsible and undemocratic, came as President Bush was urging Congress to renew those sections of the post-Sept. 11 counterterrorism law set to expire in September.
Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., chairman of the panel, abruptly gaveled the meeting to an end and walked out, followed by other Republicans. Sensenbrenner declared that much of the testimony, which veered into debate over the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, was irrelevant.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., protested, raising his voice as his microphone went off, came back on, and went off again.
"We are not besmirching the honor of the United States, we are trying to uphold it," he said.
Democrats asked for the hearing, the 11th the committee has held on the act since April, saying past hearings had been too slanted toward witnesses who supported the law. The four witnesses were from groups, including Amnesty International USA and the American Immigration Lawyers Association, that have questioned the constitutionality of some aspects of the act, which allows law enforcement greater authority to investigate suspected terrorists.
Nadler said Sensenbrenner, one of the authors of the Patriot Act, was "rather rude, cutting everybody off in mid-sentence with an attitude of total hostility."
Tempers flared when Rep. Mike Pence (news, bio, voting record), R-Ind., accused Amnesty International of endangering the lives of Americans in uniform by referring to the prison at Guantanamo Bay as a "gulag." Sensenbrenner didn't allow the Amnesty representative, Chip Pitts, to respond until Nadler raised a "point of decency."
Sensenbrenner's spokesman, Jeff Lungren, said the hearing had lasted two hours and "the chairman was very accommodating, giving members extra time."
James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, speaking immediately after Sensenbrenner left, voiced dismay over the proceedings. "I'm troubled about what kind of lesson this gives" to the rest of the world, he told the Democrats remaining in the room.
Senate Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, in a statement, said the hearing was an example of Republican abuse of power and she would ask House Speaker Dennis Hastert to order an apology from Sensenbrenner.
Looks like the lobotomy worked, though.
And they are willing to destroy what little is left of the legislative process in order to "get Bush" .... our republic is in deep trouble. Imagine if COINTELPRO had been done right - I would imagine that the number of Lefties now in Congress would have been sent to the graybar hotel for a really, really long time, for subversive activities. Once a subversive, always a subversive.
The kind that live in my neighborhood. And that is one sad statement. I'm talking, here, about small business people, corporate types, etc. Not only is liberalism a mental disorder, but also, apparently, for some people, contagious. That's my only explanation as to how otherwise seemingly normal people in all other respects would ever want to vote for Mad Nancy.
No, not Gitmo. One way tickets to places like their beloved Cuba (the commie part of it, on the other side of the Gitmo perimeter), Iran, the DPRK, the PRC, etc.
They are also trying to set up various situations and a certain political climate so that when they try to impeach Bush, things will be ideal for them. Also, note this - you know the whole Deep Throat buzz? Guess what - they really want to paint the picture of Bush as another Nixon. You read it here first.
I wish I'd gotten to see that, Txsleuth!
Here. Nancy Pelosi (D, Stalingrad on the Pacific) confirms to the public...
A) How many operational brain cells the average DemonRAT has...
B) How many Al Qaeda terror cells she is personally sponsoring...
C) How many times she has blinked since her last face lift.
Without my glasses on , Ms.Pelosi looks like the runaway bride!!
Without my glasses on , Ms.Pelosi looks like the runaway bride!!
I was cheering this morning when Pence said that---I totally enjoyed the whole scene---
I am so glad that Sensenbrenner stopped that hearing---it was a "set-up" by the dems from the first second!
She just sat on a frozen carrot.
"This is an indicator of why Zogby polls cannot be trusted."
My MAN PENCE! Kick them in the teeth Mike!
Well, after losing 150 pounds or so after his stomach-stapling operation, he's bound to have a lot of loose skin (to go with his annoying personality).
Pitts only brought up ONE subject that has anything to do with the Patriot ACT---and that is the Library problem...
When he was asked by one of the Reps if he could even name ONE person that had been unfairly treated by the FBI because of their library habits, he couldn't---
That was the only time a subject re: the Patriot Act was even discussed...
It was a dem attack on out troops yet again....
"And does anyone wonder why Zogby's polls receive no respect?"
THe guy at this hearing was the brother of the Zogby that does the polls....
I'm aware of that. :-)
Check for replays--tonight or this weekend---it is getting so much publicity, that I am sure C-span will rerun it!!!
Guess who was on the dem panel? Besides Nadler, Jackson Lee, Conyers, ---Brillo Pad Head!!! ( I hope you remember who I am referring to)!!!
Let me know if you don't!
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