If the fundamental philosophy of conservatism is "sometimes you gotta be a jerk", and the fundamental philosophy of liberalism is "don't be a jerk!", then sometimes I'm a conservative. For instance, when it comes to confronting the Imperial Presidency, there should be one simple rule for Senate Democrats: ALWAYS be a jerk. Period. The administration nominates anyone to the right of Ed Asner to run the CIA? Then in this political climate, vote no. It's simple.
So while in normal times General Hayden might be a good choice, in these times, with fascism looming, he's not. He ran the NSA's domestic surveillance program, so we vote no. It's just so fucking simple.
Yet our party's leaders don't understand it -- not even Jay Rockefeller, who disappointed me on the Alito filibuster but since then has seemed to be on board.
Glenn Greenwald wrote about it. Please read.
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4 comments:
Gutless wonders. I think the "Almost ex-Democrat" on the SoonerThought Podcast said it best on this topic...
http://soonerthought.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=94577
These last few nom votes have been little more than democrat CYA. When are you going to realize that the Senate is little better than a vote swapping club?
It is a tenet of the working rules that govern the sometimes uneasy relationship between Congress and the White House that a President should be allowed to surround himself with those he feels share his views and with whom he feels he can work effectively.
As I've said before, many Democrats suffer from "terminal good manners". There is an obvious implied proviso to the tenet which they appear to have overlooked. Where the President has repeatedly acted in bad faith, has lied or "been mistaken" in ways which only willful ignorance could explain, has shown that loyalty to party exceeds loyalty to nation, and that loyalty to class takes precedence over all, it is madness to rubber-stamp "Approved" on his selected playmates.
How likely is it that a soul mired in corruption is going to choose as its bosom companion anyone steeped in virtue?
He may sport four stars now, but Hayden must have spent years snapping to attention, saluting, and following orders without question. I don't think that's a habit easily kicked.
Independent, my skinny ass!
Bravo to the Democrats who refused to vote to confirm! Shame on the others. All of them.
Lucretia: Ah, my point is that the Dems don't seem to understand how to make waves -- both unwilling to, and don't even know how to. They should be highlighting this administration's unconstitutional (and fundamentally unamerican) claims of executive privilege by demanding someone with a demonstrated commitment to civil rights to head the CIA -- not merely someone "acceptable" but someone who represents a capitulation. Sure, Bush won't do it -- but so what? One of our strongest arguments is that we're out of power, so let's force them to slap us down publicly and repeatedly. It only makes them look unilateral, power-hungry, unAmerican.
In other words, centrists (if nominated by Bush without our consent) aren't even OK for certain positions, like CIA chief. If they don't come to us and ask us for our recommendation -- in which case we suggest a centrist -- then we vote no. Period.
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