Agree 100%.
Just emailed my Representative to tell her to impress these very same sentiments on Pelosi regarding the Intell chairmanship.
Posted by snark at November 15, 2006 08:23 AMDisagree. Harman will support an attack on Iran with no second thought. As for Hastings, he is a very thoughtful man. Met him once, in a unigue circumstance. Given the madness that is afoot, this war mongering has to stop.
Posted by gg at November 15, 2006 08:29 AMNormally I agree with Soto, but not in this instance. I agree with Pelosi that Jane Harmon isn't tough enough to be intel chairman. Pete Hoekstra has been the most partisan, dishonest chairman in that committee's history. He did exactly what he felt or knew the White House wanted. Harmon pretty much just went along. She should have stood up to him long ago. Instead, she tried to "protect" her committee and let Hoekstra roll right over her. Harmon failed the party and her country.
Posted by MarvToler at November 15, 2006 08:35 AMAin't it a beautiful thing when you have people within the same party actually debating different viewpoints on stuff?
I love this. It's fucking refreshing!
Of course the media is just gonna consider it "the Democrats in disarray". But there's nothing new about that.
Posted by snark at November 15, 2006 08:41 AMhow about if she puts in silvestre reyes at intelligence? wasn't that the scuttlebutt?
Posted by benjoya at November 15, 2006 08:42 AMThe GOP is going to beat Pelosi about Murtha? The same GOP that just elected a disgraced racist to a leadership posistion in the senate? Pass the popcorn.
Posted by shirt at November 15, 2006 08:48 AMO'Donnell is one of the brightest pundits on the block but he seems to be underestimating Pelosi's experience. She's well versed in the game and her choices are part of her message. She's stepping over the carcasses of business as usual, partly responding to Murtha's unvarnished guts as well as Harmon's Lieberman-like choice of Bush vs The Constitution in the NSA fiasco.
Murtha will most certainly bring complications to the position that Hoyer would not. Murtha to Americans represents the Iraq War lion, whether you agree or disagree, he won't be ignored and that's important.
mainsailset, I'm with you about Harmon on the NSA spying - she pissed me off when she announced it was not as bad as we all knew it was.
Posted by iamcoyote at November 15, 2006 09:09 AMHmmmm.
Lawrence O'Donnell, short-timer pundit who got it right this time....
OR
Nancy Pelosi, underdog pol who is now Speaker of the House...
I'll go with the grandma from CA.
Lawrence O'Donnell is the *only* reason to watch the McLaughlin Group.
And these two blockheads are the only 2 choices for Intelligence chair? The timid rubber-stamper and the impeached, crooked judge? I'll take door number 3, Alex, and promote #3 Reyes of Texas. But wait, Reyes has bribery allegations too. How about #4 Boswell of Iowa for the chair?
Fuck.
Posted by idiosynchronic at November 15, 2006 09:24 AMharman's acquiescence on NSA shows she is NOT part of the force that pulled us back from the abyss last week. i can't find the dirt on reyes. link, anyone?
Posted by benjoya at November 15, 2006 09:48 AMHarman is a crackpot. She's Joe Lieberman in a bad wig.
Jane Harman has way too much testosterone when it comes to the military and the Middle East.
Posted by Christopher at November 15, 2006 10:31 AM
Sometimes Lawrence O'Donnell is right (election prediction), sometimes he's wrong (Lieberman will drop out prediction).
I have no special insight here, but my money is on Murtha. He's the guy I want to see on TV because he's passionate and doesn't take crap from anyone. He'll hammer in the need to redeploy every time they interview him.
As for the corruption, the media loves bribes, sex and cover-ups much more than your average pork and earmark stories. Besides the storyline is already set on Murtha - respected war hero who supported the invasion, but now believes the mission has been accomplished and it's time to get out.
Posted by Simon at November 15, 2006 10:34 AMLawrence O'Donnell is the *only* reason to watch the McLaughlin Group.
Heh. I watch to hear Eleanor scream and see Tony get all red and puffy.
Posted by ann at November 15, 2006 10:47 AMI watch to hear Eleanor scream and see Tony get all red and puffy.
Ewww! You're sick! and I'm not talking my type of sick.
Alleged nepotism and defense contracts against Reyes
Posted by idiosynchronic at November 15, 2006 11:01 AM"Sometimes Lawrence O'Donnell is right (election prediction), sometimes he's wrong (Lieberman will drop out prediction)."
Hey. I got the 87 World Series correct. Except for the winner. Damn Denkinger blew the call. ;)
Posted by Alex at November 15, 2006 12:04 PMWell, they do say that honets politicians in Washington are vry rare.
Kinda like trying to find a virgin in NYC.
Posted by Alex at November 15, 2006 12:06 PMKinda like trying to find a virgin in NYC.
Hey! Every girl I've ever met in NYC said she was a virgin!
Posted by snark at November 15, 2006 12:50 PMI think even if Pelosi loses this one, it doesn't matter. She is fighting a war not a battle and she expects to win. This woman is tough.
Posted by Daryl at November 15, 2006 01:10 PM"Hey! Every girl I've ever met in NYC said she was a virgin!"
Are those the ones that model lingerie and have websites? hehehe ;)
Roll Call: "Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) told a group of Democratic moderates on Tuesday that an ethics and lobbying reform bill being pushed by party leaders was 'total crap,' but said that he would work to enact the legislation because Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) supports it."
He voted against the most recent attempt at ethics/lobbying reform. He doesn't seem to like being ethical at all.
America voted to bring a change to DC...
Why is Abramoff being linked to Reid now according to an ABC news report? Reid's spokeperson Jim Manley said something about Abramoff trying to save his skin? He's going to prison, what's he trying to save?
And another thing...Why's a Clinton appointed judge so slap happy to put him in prison when prosecutors wanted him to spill some more beans about corruption in Congress. Seems they were working on the Democratic side of the isle now. Go ahead, take Republican Congressmen down and forget about the Dems. Good old Nancy, her very first day as Speaker wanting ethics and lobbying reform. Pledging to change Congress into a more ethical place for the people. Shame the closets are still full. Her leadership has ethically challenged members. "For shame, for shame, for shame."
...maybe we have to completely forget about the past and start anew.
Would y'all have done that six years ago?
Posted by peter at November 15, 2006 03:57 PMI agree with Speaker Elect Pelosi. It's called leadership. Speaker Pelosi is acting like a leader. Most of us haven't seen much of this. This is how effective leadership looks. The Corporate media, along with the republicans, lost big last Tuesday. While Lawrence O’Donnell is a very level headed political consultant, he is reacting to how this will be view by the corporate media. This is the same corporate media that is complicit with the republicans. Even though I am no Murtha fan, I respect his courage to speak out on behalf of the troops by challenging the leadership of this senseless war - at a time when most politicians had their head in the sand. Murtha will challenge the country to look at this war from a different paradigm. The talking heads are limiting the discussion to "stay the coarse", "cut and run", "add more troops", etc. Murtha will keep raising the questions: How long can we afford to give haliburton and others $4 billion/week? (The U.S. dollar is already at risk) Why should we keep our soldiers in a civil war crossfire? What does the U.S. get from the scam? Why should we keep fighting to secure Iraq resources for Iran?
Jane Harmon would be a disaster as the intelligence committee chair. When the bush-cheney cabal manufactured intelligence and blamed the intelligence community for their failures, they essentially compromised our intelligence function at the worst possible time in our history. This function is too important to leave in the hands of another Lieberman like democrat. Again, Speaker Pelosi is exhibiting outstanding leadership. I hope she finds another qualified chair person to lead this critical committee.
One of the most valuable qualities of a good leader is to choose the most capable people to take charge. As we can see with bush, loyalty often leads to incompetence. Under bush, we mostly see incompetence.
Seems Nancy read from the same book Bush did.
Posted by peter at November 15, 2006 09:24 PMIt sounds like Jane Harman has her hands full 'splaining her connections with the AIPAC spy scandal:
Probe of Harman's AIPAC Ties Confirmed
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 25, 2006; Page A06
Federal law enforcement sources confirmed yesterday that the FBI opened an investigation in 2005 into whether Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) improperly enlisted the aid of a pro-Israel lobbying group, but they cautioned that no evidence of wrongdoing was found.
The inquiry focused on whether Harman had made promises to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in exchange for its support of her desire to become chairman of the House intelligence committee if Democrats take control of the House, several law enforcement sources said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/24/AR2006102401446.html
Interestingly, the article says that Larry Franklin was sentenced to 12 years in the federal pen earlier this year--I may have missed this in all the hoohah, however, I do get a distinct feeling that AIPAC is working overtime to keep this story quiet. Given the complicity of both Republicans and Democrats with the AIPAC lobbying machine, along with AIPAC's efforts on behalf of Israel that are counter to US interests, I think this is something to shine a light on...
Posted by cheSF at November 15, 2006 09:29 PM