Senate stunt juiced up intelligence probe (Boston Globe)

[Nightwing]

I dont like the "stunt" inference in the headline but Oliphant is dead on in this interesting op-ed.
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By Thomas Oliphant, Globe Columnist

<snip>

Sometimes political stunts work, and the one Senate Democrats pulled this week worked spectacularly. Simply by invoking a rule with roots back to the Revolution, they managed to put some gas in what was a nearly empty tank. What President Bush and Vice President Cheney should fear is a dogged look at how intelligence information that was not entirely definitive about Iraq's unconventional weapons efforts came to be portrayed as such in the months preceding the war it was misused to help launch.

For some, it may have seemed weird to observe Senate Republicans howling like hyenas this week over what was misleadingly described as a maneuver that closed the Senate's doors to the public for a couple of hours.

That is only technically accurate. What really happened was that the Democratic leadership, acting like leaders for a change, used procedure to force a secret, senators-only discussion of the intelligence issue. When the minority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, made his move (no debate or vote allowed), the assumption behind it was that this was the only way to force the discussion.

Had Reid complained, or had a chorus of Democrats complained about the probe, there would have been nothing but sound-bite bromides on all sides, and no one would have paid the slightest attention. But by reminding the majority leader, Bill Frist, that he does not control every aspect of the Senate's procedures and by surprising and embarrassing him in front of his colleagues, the Democrats got the attention they deserved.

Frist's hilariously righteous explosion -- along with the tantrums of others like the endangered Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and the embattled Intelligence Committee chairman Pat Roberts of Kansas -- were entertaining but not truly newsworthy.

More at: http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/11/03/senate_stunt_juiced_up_intelligence_probe/

[malaise]

1. Oh yes

Frist's hilariously righteous explosion -- along with the tantrums of others like the endangered Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and the embattled Intelligence Committee chairman Pat Roberts of Kansas -- were entertaining but not truly newsworthy.:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Tesla]

2. I love the way it ends......

"My own sense is that what happened with intelligence information is not something top administration officials want to talk about in public. And for good reason.

Politics may pollute everything around here, but sometimes it serves a larger purpose. It sure did this week."


Thanks for the HOPE that this might FLY!!!!