| WASHINGTON - Democrats forced the Republican-controlled Senate into an unusual closed session Tuesday, questioning intelligence that President Bush used in the run-up to the war in Iraq and accusing Republicans of ignoring the issue.
"They have repeatedly chosen to protect the Republican administration rather than get to the bottom of what happened and why," Democratic leader Harry Reid said. |
My god. Senate Dems have decided to step up and fight. It's about damn time. And how did the Senate Republicans respond?
| Taken by surprise, Republicans derided the move as a political stunt.
"The United States Senate has been hijacked by the Democratic leadership," said Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee. "They have no convictions, they have no principles, they have no ideas," the Republican leader said. |
Now that's just rich. Reid uses a procedural move to force a fight over a stalled investigation, and Frist's response is... to claim the Dems don't stand for anything? Does he not think before he starts blabbering? No ideas? No convictions? I don't see how that is the most logical response to this. Do you?
Let's see how things turned out during the closed session:
| Democrats sought assurances that Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts of Kansas would complete the second phase of an investigation of the administration's prewar intelligence.
After about two hours, senators returned to open session having appointed a six-member task force — three members from each party — to review the committee's progress and report back to their respective leaders by Nov. 14. |
Well now. Sounds to me that was a victory for the convictionless, unprincipled Dems. And it doesn't look like the Grand Old Party is taking it well:
| Frist angrily denounced the move, charging that "the United States Senate has been hijacked by the Democratic leadership." He told reporters that he has never as majority leader "been slapped in the face with such an affront to the leadership of this grand institution."
Frist called the closed session "a pure stunt" by Reid, Durbin and the Democratic leadership. "This is an affront to me personally," he said. "It's an affront to our leadership. It's an affront to the United States of America. And it is wrong." |
Poor Mr. Bill. It's hard when the world sees you don't have control of your own body, isn't it?
And how about those Dems again:
| "The purpose of this closed session is to discuss the need for a phase two investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee," Durbin told reporters after the move. He said this investigation was promised as early as Feb. 12, 2004, yet "nothing has been done."
"It is clear now that the American people were not informed properly before the invasion of Iraq," he said. "Intelligence information was distorted, was misused, and we have seen as late as last week the lengths which this administration has gone to try to silence and discredit their critics of the misuse of this intelligence information." Durbin added, "We're serving notice on [Senate Republicans] at this moment: Be prepared for this motion every day until you face the reality. The Senate Intelligence Committee has a responsibility to hold this administration accountable for the misuse of intelligence information. They have promised this investigation. We will continue to make this request until they do it." Under Rule 21, the chamber can be ordered into closed session when any member calls for it and the motion is seconded. No vote is required. Going back into regular session requires a majority vote. Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) called the move "historic" and said it was prompted by mounting frustration. "An administration that can't admit it makes mistakes is bound to make many, many, many more of them," he said. The closed session was needed to "get the majority to implement its proper oversight role," he said. "That relates to the war, and it relates to many, many others issues as well." |
Remember what I said yesterday about momentum? You can just feel it building, can't you?
This is EXACTLY the way the minority needs to fight. Make your point. Force your opponent to show his true colors. Force the media to cover it. Build the narrative. Seize control of the agenda. Pick your battles, and pick them well.
PS - for a good timeline on why this move was necessary, see this statement from Reid via Kos. And yes, Kos is right. Not only is this about pre-war intelligence and Senate oversight, its also about the upcoming SCOTUS nomination battle. A brilliant tactical maneuver from the Senator from the great state of Nevada!
UPDATE: Some reactions from around the sphere...
Kevin Drum sees it as a canny tactical maneuver that returns the media focus to the intelligence issue. He also provides the talking points Reid's team have sent around explaining the action. They definitely give you the sense that this is just a small taste of what's to come.
ThinkProgress has the video for those of you interested. They also have a post that indicates the move was driven at least in part by recent reports in the National Journal indicating that VP Cheney deliberately withheld documents from Senate intelligence staff.
And last but not least, a very interesting post from Mark Schmitt over at TPMCafe. He compares this move to the rise of the Republicans in 1994. I tend to agree with one of the commenters, its way to early to make that call, but on a gut level, yeah... I feel it too!
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