Harry Reid's Unintended Consequence
"Be careful what you wish for - you may get it." - Nyota Uhura, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
~ ~ ~
Yesterday Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid invoked little-known Senate rule 21 without prior consultation with his Republican counterpart, Bill "Doofus" Frist, dragging the upper chamber into an unannounced two-hour closed-door session. The ostensible reason was to caustically bitch and moan about their volcanic frustration at their cherished "Bush lied us into the Iraq war" fable not being vindicated by Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald last week and demand that the majority launch what would at last count be the third (or fourth if you count Fitzgerald's probe) investigation into the so-called "politicizing" of pre-war intelligence that has already been overwhelmingly debunked by an independent commission (Silberman-Robb), the Senate Intelligence Committee, and the British Butler report.
I think the underlying motivation was to give the GOP a taste of what they'll do if they filibuster Samuel Alito and the majority activates the Byrd/constitutional option, as well as trying frantically to regain the PR momentum that turned so swiftly against them over the weekend. Perhaps its some of all three.
But as usual with Dirty Harry, he didn't think through all the permutations of his rash actions, and the bite-back is already beginning - and from within his own caucus:
Scandals like where the Rathergate forged documents came from, the Able Danger scandal, Bill Clinton's refusal to take Osama bin Laden when he was offered by the Sudan, or Operation Desert Fox, Mr. Bill's bombing of Iraq in 1998 to - so he claimed at the time - attack the nuclear, chemical and biological weapons that Democrats now insist up and down Saddam Hussein never EVER had and never EVER wanted.
Yeah, Republicans are lousy at investigatory oversight, and Democrats are masters at it on both sides of the ball. But the boss Donk appears to have once again lost sight of the fact that his party isn't in the majority. A very easy fact to forget, I admit, but true nonetheless. And if the Republicans chose to play hardball, they could use that majority power in ways that Senator Fife never intended or anticipated, and definitely wouldn't like.
And Reid and his jackass klaque just did their level best to piss off those very same Pachyderms.
It reminds me of David Banner's catch phrase from the old Incredible Hulk series:
~ ~ ~
Yesterday Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid invoked little-known Senate rule 21 without prior consultation with his Republican counterpart, Bill "Doofus" Frist, dragging the upper chamber into an unannounced two-hour closed-door session. The ostensible reason was to caustically bitch and moan about their volcanic frustration at their cherished "Bush lied us into the Iraq war" fable not being vindicated by Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald last week and demand that the majority launch what would at last count be the third (or fourth if you count Fitzgerald's probe) investigation into the so-called "politicizing" of pre-war intelligence that has already been overwhelmingly debunked by an independent commission (Silberman-Robb), the Senate Intelligence Committee, and the British Butler report.
I think the underlying motivation was to give the GOP a taste of what they'll do if they filibuster Samuel Alito and the majority activates the Byrd/constitutional option, as well as trying frantically to regain the PR momentum that turned so swiftly against them over the weekend. Perhaps its some of all three.
But as usual with Dirty Harry, he didn't think through all the permutations of his rash actions, and the bite-back is already beginning - and from within his own caucus:
Influential Democratic Senator Ben Nelson said Tuesday that it would be appropriate for Congress to hold hearings into the destruction of top secret terrorism documents by former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger, calling the Berger burglary "fertile ground for an investigation."
Asked about plans by Democratic Senators to launch a probe into Iraq war intelligence, Senator Nelson told ABC Radio host Sean Hannity that Senate Republicans would be within their rights if they launched new probes into Democrat scandals.
Scandals like where the Rathergate forged documents came from, the Able Danger scandal, Bill Clinton's refusal to take Osama bin Laden when he was offered by the Sudan, or Operation Desert Fox, Mr. Bill's bombing of Iraq in 1998 to - so he claimed at the time - attack the nuclear, chemical and biological weapons that Democrats now insist up and down Saddam Hussein never EVER had and never EVER wanted.
Yeah, Republicans are lousy at investigatory oversight, and Democrats are masters at it on both sides of the ball. But the boss Donk appears to have once again lost sight of the fact that his party isn't in the majority. A very easy fact to forget, I admit, but true nonetheless. And if the Republicans chose to play hardball, they could use that majority power in ways that Senator Fife never intended or anticipated, and definitely wouldn't like.
And Reid and his jackass klaque just did their level best to piss off those very same Pachyderms.
It reminds me of David Banner's catch phrase from the old Incredible Hulk series:
Mr. McGee, don't make me angry; you wouldn't like me when I'm angry.
posted by JASmius at 9:21 PM
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