Cynical Nation

god, what a tragedy. actually trying to get some answers instead of being the do-nothing, yes sir, Mr. President body it's been.

On this one, I say good for the Dems. So Blind Trust Frist is a little late for a fundraiser. Too f'ing bad.

Heh, the Democrats are finally stooping to the dirty quasi-legal stomping all over the spirit of the rules at which Republicans so excel.

The Republicans have been using their majority to change the rules so that they cannot be investigated or opposed. It's about time the Dems found "nuclear options" of their own to invoke.

Good for Reid. Pat Roberts has been delaying the investigation into the manipulation of prewar intelligence. The committee completed phase one, now maybe they'll get to the rest of the investigation that they promised.

Wasn't the bipartisan Senate report on these matters good enough for Reid? I think he's just pissed off because all he got for Fitzmas was a piss-ass perjury charge against Scooter Libby.

The Senate Select Intelligence Committee agreed in February 2004 to expand its investigation of prewar Iraq intelligence from focus on intelligence community blunders and into the more controversial area of “whether intelligence was exaggerated or misused” by U.S. government officials. Jay Rockefeller, struck the agreement with Chairman Roberts -- provided, Roberts insisted, that the probe into policy-makers’ activities wait until after the presidential election.

This deal favored the administration becauase an exploration of the administration actions during the buildup to the Iraq War would not come out before the election. Hence, there was in July 2004 a document that was critical of the CIA but not of the administration.

So now we are still waiting for Chairman Roberts (who reportedly has been working with the Vice President's office throughout the process)to move ahead on a report that he promised as part of the bi-partisan agreement made twenty one months ago.

This is, in my view, a serious matter and the fact that it has ecaped the notice it deserves justified Reid's "stunt."

As far as the piss-ass perjury charge, Scooter Libby was the chief of staff for the Vice President and, in many ways, had a far more central role in the decision to go to war than did Karl Rove. What he is accused of is not just lying once, but lying repeatedly, gambling it seems that reporters would keep secret their conversations with him. Given that Fitzgerald is alleging that the lies began when the investigation began under Ashcroft, I could see why Libby might have felt (before Fitzgerald took over) he could have gotten away with those lies as Republicans don't seem to show much enthusiasm in investigating their own.

funny how that "awful" secret session led to the creation of a 6-member Senate task force to get the g-d investigation going again....sometimes the majority needs to be treated like a recalcitrant teenager--you ask and ask and ask and finally you have to yell loudly to get them to shape up.

Did someone say it was an "awful" secret session? The word I keep hearing in conjunction with the secret session is "moronic."

So we now have a "six-member Senate task force" to get some action out of those "recalcitrant" Republicans to "shape up." What a stunning victory! Not quite regaining the majority, but right up there with, say...revising the menu in the Congressional Mess.

Hey, don't knock it. That meatloaf was a goddamned travesty.

as one who used to munch out regularly in the Senate cafeterias, i can say the food was pretty damned good there.

It's better in the Supreme Court building. Seriously, I ate there. Way better.