lieberman, graham threaten to shut down senate over detainee photos

[Philosoraptor]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/09/lieberman-graham-threaten_n_213262.html



Sens. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) lambasted transparency advocates at a press conference Tuesday, when they renewed their promise to bring Senate business to a halt until their bill blocking the release of detainee photographs becomes law.

"We're not going to do any more business in the Senate," Graham said, his face flushed red. "Nothing's going forward until we get this right."

The duo's bill, which would allow the Pentagon to exempt Bush-era photos from the Freedom of Information Act, was stripped from the conference version of the war supplemental Monday night. In anticipation of trouble, Lieberman and Graham have already inserted the bill into the tobacco-regulatory legislation currently on the floor of the Senate.

By turns sober and furious, the two senators vowed again Tuesday to vote against -- and, if possible, filibuster -- the troop-funding bill and all other legislation until they get their way. They equated the weapons supplied by the war supplemental spending bill with detainee photos that they said would serve as a recruiting tool for al-Qaida and a weapon against U.S. troops.

[leftstreet]

1. Oh man, if only the Dems had the majority in the Senate, House, and Exec branch

wait, what?

[Xipe Totec]

2. Let them try

Call their bluff.

And get ready to strip Lieberman of his committee appointments.

Time to flush that turd.

[sharp_stick]

11. No shit

It's about time to tell him to go. The pukes won't touch him, the dems should do the same. He should be a pariah until he decides it's time to pack it in.

[man4allcats]

14. It was time to flush that turd long ago, but

I'd settle for now. He is one major league little bastard.

[gratuitous]

3. Will they stamp their little feet and threaten to hold their breath until they turn blue?

I've known four-year-olds more mature than these distinguished gentlemen.

[Philosoraptor]

5. ...in a petulant frenzy

[liberal N proud]

4. Lie-bermann (R, Conn)

Nothing independent or Democratic about that asshole.

[AlinPA]

6. I keep thinking back : How the hell did Gore pick that slime as a running mate?

[Philosoraptor]

7. We REALLY dodged a bullet there...

[FiveGoodMen]

8. How, indeed?

Gore seems so much better than the idiots we've been dealing with, and yet ...

[Philosoraptor]

10. Sometimes vice presidents are picked by 'other' parties besides the president

[loyalkydem]

9. hey LIBERMAN AND GRAHAM TWO WORDS

FUCK YOU!!!!

[MzNov]

12. I called Tweedleieberman's office today

I am usually polite, but today. I was not nice.

[MADem]

13. These guys are carrying administration water. This is a playlet being acted out.

I think people here who believe that these two will be excoriated, or otherwise beaten down, for their actions will be disappointed. The idea is to make the transparency people look good to their liberal bases, while preserving what the administration wants--which is that the photos remain sequestered.

Please don't shoot the messenger for pointing out what must be quite apparent to most people on the Senate side of the Hill, anyway, and probably most of the folks on the House side, as well:

"Is the ACLU now in charge of the House of Representatives?" Graham asked.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is "very concerned" by the bill's stalling, Graham said. American embassies, he said, have been fortifying their defenses in anticipation of the photos' release, and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has warned that "Baghdad will burn."

Key House Democrats said Monday they would want hearings on the photos bill before they even consider voting it into law, but Lieberman and Graham said that wasn't going to happen. The bill is explicitly designed to apply retroactively to the ACLU's victorious federal court case compelling release of the photos, which the Obama administration has appealed.

Even in the unlikely event that the government wins that appeal, however, Lieberman and Graham said they will still fight to exempt detainee photos from FOIA.

"This is the first shot in a long war," Graham said. "There are other lawsuits pending out there that want to compromise our national security in the name of freedom of information and transparency. There's more to come. Let us fight this battle today. Let us win the day so we don't have to fight it tomorrow."

[Philosoraptor]

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[Philosoraptor]

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