Those six words probably won't be heading the tops of Saturday or Tuesday's front pages. But they should. They're not as eye-catching as "Man Bites Dog" or even "Dick Sprays Harry", but they are just as warranted.
Though some critics
bitched and moaned about this "slap in the face", the first unannounced closed session in 25 years was warranted at the beginning of November, and a repeat is even more appropriate today. Phase II of the inquiry into the faulty prewar intelligence is being stalled by the same
punks who have been running wild at the Pentagon for much of the last two decades.
Moreover we learned yesterday that, despite their early protestations, the Republicans in Congress have once again been bitchslapped into party submission and will be looking for ways to change the FISA statutes- not investigate the illegal spying that has already taken place. Now this is too much, if the party of "small government" doesn't even want to look into such Orwellian abuses of basic liberties, then something is seriously wrong in the Republic. Our system is broke and needs fixing- Senatorial courtesy be damned.
Think back to the first day of November. When Reid and the rest of the Democratic leadership forced the Senate into a closed session, it dominated the day's news cycle, focused attention back upon the lies that lead us into Iraq and really pissed off Bill Frist. The maneuver was quite a success. It even got Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Oceania) to promise that an assessment of the Intelligence's Committee's work would be issued by November 14th.
Now, more than three months later we're still waiting. In the meantime, some of the administration's other nefarious actions have come to light. While I had high hopes that Roberts and his seven GOP cronies on the committee really want to take these matters up, I'm starting to think that they may need some prodding. What better way to do this than throwing the chamber behind closed doors?
The move would focus the entire Senate on the matters at hand. This tactic would grab attention and allow all of our great legislators to take a hard look at these important constitutional issues, without being bothered by those other things that often complicate our governments' agendas.
With the Senate behind closed doors, devoid of any staffers, press or public, we could insure that the intimate details about our clandestine operations remain secret. Hell, we could even bring in the bug-sniffing dogs this time. The only negative accompanying this tactic would be the chance that the ensuing media coverage could remind the terrorists that we may be spying on them.
Seriously though, we need to do this again. Reid promised Nov. 1st that he would shutdown the Senate every day until the matter was resolved and the questions had been answered. The GOP promised they would be- soon. Well, I'm sick of waiting. If the leadership of the other party won't keep their pledges, neither should ours.
We've got an executive branch out of control and a full constitutional crisis on our hands. The Republican Congress has abdicated their mandated duty to provide a check and balance- putting their party above their country. The task now falls to the Democrats. Though we are in the minority, we're not entirely impotent.
The Senate is arcane and unwieldly, and that's good for us. It possesses options most people have never heard of and techniques they couldn't dream up. Simple things, like when abstentions are as good as a "no" vote. Let's use the options that are available to us.
Putting the Senate behind closed doors is simply a smart thing to do. These are imporant and good issues for us- illegal spying will never fly in the land of the free (and "domestic surveillance" shouldn't either). The move will grab the public's attention for at least a couple of news cycles and dominate the printed and cable press. It would show the Democrats still have some backbone. Plus, it would make a really good headline.