Posted on 11/01/2005 7:41:34 PM PST by InvisibleChurch
* Yesterday Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid demanded that the Senate go into closed session to demand a report to follow up on a 2004 Senate Intelligence Committee investigation on what the CIA knew or didn't know in the run-up to the Iraq war. * Invoking Senate Rule 21 he forced a closed session of the US Senate to "demand, on behalf of the American people why these investigations aren't being conducted." * For the record Rule 21 reads:
On a motion made and seconded to close the doors of the Senate, on the discussion of any business which may, in the opinion of a Senator, require secrecy, the Presiding Officer shall direct the galleries to be cleared; and during the discussion of such motion the doors shall remain closed. * Thus there was no vote needed - majority or otherwise. Reid cooked this up as a publicity stunt and it worked. It made all the morning papers.
* But a stunt is a stunt. It is not policy. Even NBC's top correspondent, Andrea Mitchell said that the Senate Democrats were being "disingenuous" because Senate Democrats had plenty of time - before, during, and since to have raised these questions. And they didn't have the guts do it. * Even more amazing? Newsweek's Howard Fineman agreed with her. * This is part of an organized effort on behalf of Democrats to overcome their extreme distress of last week when US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald declined to indict anyone on the original charge of leaking Valerie Plame's name. * Nevertheless the Dems are running all over town telling anyone with a notebook or a tape recorder - including children walking to school with backpacks and grownups walking along K Street with iPods - that this is, or should be, all about WMDs or lack of them. * On Monday, reporters were giddily looking forward to Scooter Libby's trial when, they had convinced themselves, Vice President Dick Cheney would be forced to testify. * In a series of phone calls I was happy to dampen their spirits by making the following points:
1. Fitzgerald said the Libby indictment was about lying, not about WMDs
2. Any trial is going to focus solely on lying, not WMDs 3. If a trial takes place, and if VP Cheney testifies, the questioning is not going to be conducted by Larry King taking questions from reporters * On the Judge Alito front, the Democrats immediately overreached there as well. They circulated a memo claiming, in effect, that as a US Attorney, he went easy on an Italian mafia prosecution. * Chris Matthews, like Andrea Mitchell and Howard Fineman not known as an apologist for Republican causes, immediately reacted with fury, calling the memo a "pretty disgusting document," and saying it was "amazingly bad politics." * Remember the early days of the campaign against now-Chief Justice John Roberts? Remember how the National Abortion Rights Action League ran an ad which was so mean and misleading that it had to be withdrawn within hours?
* Same thing's going on here. With the same result. Judge Samuel Alito is going to be confirmed. He is a thoughtful, intelligent, extraordinarily experienced jurist. * If Republicans learned anything in the Monica scandal it was this: Overreaching is seriously punished by voters as soon as they detect it. * Mark November 1, 2005 on your calendar. It will turn out to be the date that the political tide in Washington began to turn. -- END --
Copyright ©2005 Richard A. Galen
Speaking of arrogant careerist RNC people, I never had much use for them for the past 20 years but last year's (about 25 years old I think) was the absolute worst. He was the "organizer" for this region of the state but chose not to work with the Republican committee in town in contacting such people as the college students. Then later when I wondered why we could never get any Bush campaign signs I was told that since our county didn't "go for" Bush in 2000 we were written off (but any COMPETENT campign person knows that getting from 22% GOP registration to 45% GOP vote helps overall just as much as anyone else's vote.) I ended up PHOTOCOPYING hundreds of 11" x 17" Bush campaign signs and had volunteers color in the red stripes on the flag.
From now on we're calling you Vlad!
CA....
Peppermint Patty Fitz is corrupt & dirty
His presser bemoaned his anguish at not being able to indict Rove & Libby before the 2004 election
His "apolitical" claims in his Libby indictment presser were what El Rushbo calls "seminar caller" methods
"I'm honest! Just ask me!"
31 times more indictments against Republicans than democrats?
Does anyone believe that democrats are that pure and honest?
Fitz is toast
Like Joe Wilson - Fitz planned on being a biggie under Kerry - or Hillary
His career is over
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Yes your frustration is very evident. I have an alleged republican state representative that slathers all over the butt of our canadian female democrat governor every chance he gets. He loves to put his foot on the neck of the taxpayer. The state party heirarchy prefers to wait until he is term limited out rather than mount a serious challenge to him.
1.Fitzgerald said the Libby indictment was about lying, not about WMDs
Bumpity bump.
Blackfive nails it:
About ten times I said something like, "If those politicians actually gave a flying @#$% about the troops they would have pulled a @#$%ing closed door @#$%ing session two years ago to get them kevlar, equipment, pay, support in combat and the hospitals and in the VA."
If they really gave a @#$* about the troops, the large campaign chests would be paying for kevlar blankets and supporting organizations like Soldiers' Angels and the Semper Fi Injured Marine Fund.
http://www.blackfive.net/main/2005/11/the_media_and_t.html
They always refer to him as a Repubican...is this true? Why was he chosen?
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