Sunday, March 05, 2006

Frist Creates More Nuclear Options


Glenn Greenwald does a good job of covering Bill Frist’s attempts to stop the Senate Intelligence Committee from investigating the NSA spying. As usual, Frist proves that he will assume the role of little tyrant by breaking all the rules in order to provide cover for that deranged man in the oval office.


With the March 7 vote looming on Sen. Rockefeller’s motion for the [Senate Intelligence] Committee to finally hold hearings to investigate the scope and nature of the Administration’s NSA warrantless eavesdropping on American citizens -- and with several Committee Republicans indicating their intent to vote for hearings -- Majority Leader Bill Frist threatened the Committee yesterday and warned it not to hold any hearings.

Frist specifically threatened that if the Committee holds NSA hearings, he will fundamentally change the 30-year-old structure and operation of the Senate Intelligence Committee so as to make it like every other Committee, i.e., controlled and dominated by Republicans to advance and rubber-stamp the White House’s agenda rather than exercise meaningful and nonpartisan oversight.

Yet again, Republicans are threatening to radically change long-standing rules for how our government operates all because they cannot manipulate the result they want. From redistricting games to changing the filibuster rules, when Republicans are incapable (even with their majorities) of manipulating the political result they want, they use their majority status to change how our government works in order to ensure the desired political outcome.

See the Moderate Voice for more on Frist's Mini-Nuclear Option