Because the Republicans have no power in either House, they have lost the control of committees and with it the power of investigation and hearings. If the tables were turned, Republicans' sense of comity, perhaps reinforced by goading from a media wonderfully reinvigorated in its desire to investigate, would provide the minority with some opportunity for hearings. Democrats do not suffer from conscience and are not embarrassed by notions of comity.
All of this is compounded by the race of the president which foreclosed investigation into his biography, or his intimate associations with communists, black liberationists, terrorists and murderers. So we are in a condition today in which neither the media nor the ruling party will part the media curtain even a millimeter to let sunlight in.
If there were committee hearings on this issue, Gen. McChrystal would be under oath and under the protection of a statute which compels him to tell the truth. No doubt his career would be put in jeopardy if he spoke against the administration, but the administration would have to be careful in how it evidenced retribution. The general would be defended by members of the other party who would act as counsel for him to some degree. An important issue like this would probably be televised and so the Democrats, unprotected in the glare of sunlight by the media filter, would be more inclined to behave themselves.
In the absence of a forum, Gen. McChrystal took what I am sure he regarded as a principled stand in his London speech. No one rises to the level he has attained the United States military who is deaf to political realities. He knew damn well what he was doing. He might be absolutely wrong about Afghanistan, but I applaud his courage. He clearly knew he was putting his career on the line which is a hell of a lot more than virtually any Congress critter that one could name would do.
This is one more example of how the United States political system functions as a two-party system and goes way off track when the delicate balance between party discipline and despotism is trespassed upon. There is a lesson here for conservatives who are so quick to say, "the hell with you, I will stay home."
