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Apparently the GOPs aren’t playing nice with Dianne Feinstein’s Senate Intelligence Committee investigation.
“I very much regret the fact that the Republican side of the Intelligence Committee has chosen not to continue to participate in the Committee’s study and investigation into the detention and interrogation of high-value detainees. However, that study and investigation is being pursued, additional staff are being hired, and the Committee is continuing the work with all due diligence.”
They’ve taken their toys and gone home.
Had Mr. Holder honored the pledge made by the president to look forward not backwards, we would still be active participants in the committee’s review,” Missouri Republican Christopher S. Bond, vice-chairman of the Senate panel, said in an e-mailed statement. “Instead, DOJ sent a loud and clear message that previous decisions to decline prosecution mean nothing and old criminal charges can be brought anytime against anyone — against these odds, what current or former CIA employee would be willing to gamble his freedom by answering the committee’s questions?”
But there’s a step Senator Feinstein should take now:
Dear Minority Leader McConnell:
Vice Chairman Bond of the SSCI has determined that he and the GOP members of our committee can no longer participate in good conscience in the investigation of detention and interrogation of high-value detainees. Have you any Republican members of the Senate who can engage in this extremely important undertaking? Can you think of any Republican Senators willing to investigate criminal behavior? If so, please appoint them in the stead of Mr Roberts and his GOP colleagues, whose service we have so valued up to this point.S/ Dianne Feinstein
To which, of course, Miss McConnell would be obliged to reply,
Dear Di:
Sorry. Ain’t got none.
Yours most sincerely/ Miss
Not wanting to participate in this investigation is a blatant admission against interest to the existence of criminal behavior they wish to conceal, wouldn’t you agree? And one that might be of great interest to future war crimes tribunals.
"Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil" not being an affirmative defense in a Nuremburg proceeding.
65 Comments
Yep, if we don’t participate, then it didn’t happen. Right?
If one entire political party sez, “We won’t look into this because it might require war criminals to expose their own wrongdoing!” aren’t they also war criminals?
Yep, Teddy – it doesn’t change a thing — but I also think this is part and parcel of the entire GOP/RNC program of “Our job is to prevent the Democrats from accomplishing…ANYTHING.”
Hmmm! If the Republicans don’t wish to participate perhaps there are Jr. members of the Majority than might be interested. I can think of a few…for example, Al Franken.
The tasks of the Minority members should be increased to deal with Homeland Security around waste-water plants, potential threats to Americas bases in Greenland, and whether the NSA is adequately prepared for espionage using radio waves produced from ill-set fillings. Mandatory “field visits” required, of course, to asylums, sewage plants, and the Arctic surveillance centers during Congressional breaks.
The current version of the Pledge of Allegiance reads:
“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”;
guess the Repubs don’t say that part given that “liberty for all’ also isn’t part of their weltanschauung.
Nor is that thing about all men being created equal.
Mr. Roberts has not gotten instructions from any of his corporate masters.
They need lies about a blow job to investigate…or an indepth investigation into Acorn.
forget holding anyone accountable for false pre war intelligence, a war based on those lies (oh yeah that would mean Diane’s family war profiteering would need to be investigated), torture, etc.
Back to investigating blow jobs for the Republicans…that really gets their justice juices flowing
?
I think it’s a reference to Lewinski and the impeachment of Clinton over nothing compared to all that Bush and co got away with.
Yea but couldn’t help myself.
(I lived in K-town once.)
Do you make that phone call? Cause I don’t bother that person for just any little thing. Just for certain important things. Wondering.
Oh yes. I should have called you back. It was short but sweet. He got my links. I, by the way, need your address. Email me please at mary at mccurnin design dot com.
Short but sweet is how it always is. Better than nothing. I’m writing to you, now. Goody Goody.
Did you email me? No letter yet.
Maybe the GOP is simply admitting they are unqualified to sit on any Committee with the word “intelligence” in its name.
“old criminal charges” Cool. So, it’s double jeopardy to prosecute anyone for anything that happened under a previous administration. If that administration didn’t prosecute, it can’t be done.
Just to keep the new DOJ out of trouble, please show us the comprehensive records of the “old criminal charges” the previous administration declined to prosecute.
gee whiz, i really dont care if the GOP eats feinstein for lunch. really. San Fran can do better than her, I know they can. First Openly Gay senator anyone?
How embarrassing, Kit Bond didn’t learn about the statute of limitations at U Va law school.
Or while clerking for Judge Tuttle or practicing at Covington & Burling. Also.
Is it entirely obvious that if Congress investigates and find wrong-doing that the matter would be referred to DoJ for prosecution? Couldn’t investigations just produce information for Congress to use in writing or adjusting laws?
The argument against oversight has to be seen as the refuge of scoundrels who didn’t care to investigate Clinton-Lewinsky long after the blue dress incident. Does Kit Bond insist we ONLY investigate crimes which have yet to occur or ones in progress? What if investigation does NOT reveal criminal behavior. Would he insist we only investigate things which we know beforehand to NOT have been criminal?
Kit Bond is not stupid. He shouldn’t try to arrogate unto himself all righteous anger and authority to choose investigation or not. That’s above his pay grade.
Kit Bond is not stupid, but he’s totally willing to play stupid if it suits his purpose. He assumes the citizenry is stupid and he’s planning to retire in ‘11.
Torture…torture….torture. Too many people (especially the progressives) have hammered away at this issue and now all the terrorists know they can go forward and suffer no real harm (think waterboarding). All of a sudden we have all these plots being revealed as terrorists get more brazen, safe in the knowledge they will get the kid glove treatment if caught. When innocent Americans start dying the blood will be on the hands of those progressives who weakened our whole system of interrogation.
That’s right, it’s no biggie — what’s a little water between friends?
Seriously? Are you arguing that the use of torture in interrogations wasn’t really about getting intelligence at all, but was in fact a way to deter potential terrorists from attacking out of fear that they might get caught and tortured? Were you joking, or do you really not get why torturing prisoners and detainees for any reason is a very bad idea.
Easy enough to understand, clang, clang, clang went the troll-ey.
Yeah, but even a troll can’t be that stupid. Is that really how “reasonable” people on the right think?
Nah, I assume there are reasonable people on the right but they don’t attract as much attention. Certainly they don’t get their jollies hanging out at progressive blogs and playing bait the lefty.
As for stupidity, I doubt if many trolls believe what they spew, it is all about provocation and honesty is just an impediment to that goal.
Why do you think Beck scribbles all that stupidity on his high tech, magic blackboard? Honesty is obviously an impediment to his goal, but he doesn’t seem to be trying to provoke lefties or to inform his Beckheads. I’d say he’s trying to manipulate his followers, but I don’t think he’s intelligent enough to manipulate his way out of a paper bag. Maybe he actually thinks that all that nonsense IS information!
I don’t know about that. The forker just had his pic on stoopid Time Magazine.
(Don’t even get me started about Time.)
I think all the recent attention Beck’s been getting is the worst thing that could have happened to him. The more people listen to him, the more most people see that he’s nuts, and the smaller his following gets. His time’s almost up.
I hope so. I think you are right.
I think so. I’ve only taken passing notice of him from time to time before, but all the recent attention seems to have gone to his head, which just makes him say and do things that are even more ridiculous than before.
Beck is the Carney pitchman, the wrasslin’ announcer, or the Herb Tarlek of rightard philosophy.
Plus, trolls don’t believe in facts or science so they have a ton of latitude.
Selective perception. That which appears to reinforce their prejudice is embraced, all that would refute it is ignored or discredited.
Um, in case you haven’t notice, “the right” has been hijacked by low-wattage teabaggers who have sacrificed reason at the altar of rightwing media. For decades now, bipartisanship and consensus was belittled as Chamberlain-like appeasement. Victory only comes by standing on your opponents throat. Now, any Republican caught giving foot massages to moderates behind the Winn-Dixie will be burned as a heretic and primaried out of existence.
They can’t be reasoned with and they are protected by a diamond hard ring of mile thick stupid. There are millions of them.
Um, no I hadn’t noticed.
2shay.
I’ve always blamed Newt Gingrich for telling Republicans in the 90s to think in terms of absolute dichotomies and to think that “victory only comes by standing on your opponent’s throat.”
And millions of us voted for Obama. What does that make us?
(I know I am a trouble maker but I do it with a full heart./)
Evolved.
Evolving.
What do you think it makes us?
Evolved! I just got it. Still evolving…
Did you consider that torture is a war crime before you posted your ignorance?
Bitch all You want, but My bet is the Country votes the Republicans back in, in 2010 and 2012. Maybe the predictors from the past who claim the end of the world will be in 2012, knew more about the American electorate than we do.
DiFi must be crying into her needlepointed David Broder pillow: “Bipartisanship Above All”
Where’s Janet Jackson when you need her? That would perk the Goopers right up.
But I wish I trusted DiFi more. I suppose having Sheldon Whitehouse on the committee should be enough to keep the inquiry honest, but I still get the itch when Feinstein is in charge of anything.
You should probably get that looked at.
“Not wanting to participate in this investigation is a blatant admission against interest to the existence of criminal behavior they wish to conceal, wouldn’t you agree? And one that might be of great interest to future war crimes tribunals.”
It’s actually not the committee’s job to investigate criminal wrongdoing. That’s DOJ’s job.
Bond is right and, thank God, stoopid.
He’s right, CIA officers should not respond to the Committee’s questions if they fear criminal prosecution. In fact, the committee should stfu and let the prosecutor do his job.
The thing for opponents of accountability to do is push for a public investigation with immunized testimony to make the prosecutor’s job much harder, as the bipartisan idiots on the Iran-Contra committee did. If I were a GOPer I would be searching for one or more Ollie Norths to get up and give their Col. Flagg best, make the public case for torture. Then push Feinstein to “get to the bottom” of this stuff by offering anyone and everyone who will talk immunity. then have them spill their guts, and create a headache for the prosecutor.
Fortunately, they’re taking the petulant approach. Feinstein’s investigation can come to little or no good. The wingers are doing us a favor. The quicker it is delegitimized and shut down the better.
Starting with the Church Committee, SSCI has never done an investigation that led to real reform. Quite the opposite. The cycle goes like this: public scandal — handwringing — hard pushback from CIA, conservadems and GOP — congressional investigation confirming scandal — legislation allowing the President’s privy army (”intelligence community”) to do whatever the hell it wants to.
SSCI’s charter is to oversee US intelligence. If that involves criminal wrongdoing the committee can investigate. No one is talking about giving anybody immunity.
You missed the point. I covered the Iran-contra hearings. They completely screwed up Walsh’s investigation, costing him years.
Dianne Feinstein is no more going to challenge the intelligence community than Dick Cheney. That’s a fantasy. Unless she’s had a political personality transplant, SSCI’s investigation is a serious threat to criminal prosecutions.
Just watch. Especially with the GOP out, CIA officers will parade before the committee, plead the fifth behind closed doors and run straight to the WaPo weeping and whining that their personal liberty and institutional responsibility to Keep Us Safe is threatened by a partisan witchhunt. One after the other after the other after the other.
AND THEY WILL BE RIGHT TO DO SO. Facing criminal prosecution, they would be idiotic to testify.
Look, I think as presently constituted that the US intelligence community operates mostly outside the constitution, and is as much a threat to our liberties as protector, and have written so elsewhere. But even I would recommend that any CIA officer not testify to SSCI until the criminal prosecution ends — unless offered at minimum limited use immunity. Without immunity, Feinstein will not have an investigation. Watch it happen.
Time to declare the GOP “enemy combatants” and treat them as such. Accord them the same measure of justice they would mete out to others.
I like your headline: I know a bunch of Cole Porter songs. I think I have a recording of Miss Otis Regrets somewhere among the old 33 1/3s.
Remember the scroll theory. The concept is easy. The practice; hard.
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By politicizing the process they can then call the process a political witch hunt.
thers has sathersday late nite up at the mothership
I’m glad to see that Republicans are still acting like children. For example, GOP members of the Senate Intelligence Committee walking out on the committee’s investigation. Tim Pawlenty is another great example of a Republican who has been forced into moving to the extreme right. I think he was the only Republican who had any chance of making a serious run against President Obama. Not so much any more!
Megan Fox will host SNL tonight?! Watching her make a fool of herself might be amusing.
Starting to get interesting now. There were people in CIA that knew it was illegal and said so. They wouldn’t participate. Unfortunately some of the morally compromised did participate.They usually left it up to backwoods hicks, like Lindy and her imbecile boyfriend Chuck.They like that kind of thing. They had pictures to remind themselves of their depravity. Time to round up all the Goobers. Straight to the top.They have to answer for that. Bummer. Oh well payback is such a bitch.
Isn’t this sweet:
Let’s get a grip. These are unsolved murders. Until the perpetrators are known, these are “on-going investigations.” Perhaps Christopher S. Bond has reasons that he would like to forclose these homocide investigations. But the families of the victims need closure, and Senator Bond ought to respect the needs of the victims’ families. Oh, but yes, we all understant that “they’re muslims.”
What an asshole!
What current or former employee would be willing to gamble their freedom by not answering these questions?
Don’t call her Mrs. Feinstein, she is a Senator from California and earned that title just like Senator Boxer. How dare you show such disrespect.
Dianne Feinstein is a walking, talking example of disrespect, a Brahman born to riches and married up into an even wealthier family. The extent to which The Senatrix and Blum have San Francisco and California politics rigged, through development deals, the University of California and concessions from government operations, to shift more cash into their coffers cannot be overestimated.
Mrs. Blum is the ChairMAN of the Intelligence Committee, a fine feminist example for all to follow.
Isn’t the Intelligence Committee one of those uber-bi-partisan committees that has an even number of Democrats and Republicans? If so, if the Republicans bail, then doesn’t that leave the committee without a majority, without a quorum, and unable to conduct business?
“I would say the most terrifying thought that comes to mind is an invasion of Dianne Feinstein clones with large lizard tails crawling out of the sea one day, devouring people right and left. The more Feinstein’s jowls grow, the more terrifying she becomes. She’s finally looking like what she is: take off the makeup and the wig and it’s a Chicago ward boss staring back at you, asking for a bribe. The only thing missing is the big cigar. And what if you mixed these different cloning genes together — what would you come up with? “
Jello Biafra
DiFink reminds me of Brer Rabbit pleading with Brer Fox, “please, please don’t throw me in that briar patch, please”! As she once again skirts investigating her actions of the last 8 years.