Senate Follies

Sen Arlen Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee promised a thorough investigation into President Bush's secret domestic eavesdropping program and said there would be no blank check for him.

Sounds pretty impressive until you realize these are the same group of near incompetents who gave us the Judge Samuel Alito confirmation comedy charade. These ineffective representatives of America were exemplified by Senator Lindsay 'Huckleberry' Graham, and by Senator Joe 'Blowhard of Emptiness' Biden. Graham, who actually coached Alito on how to answer questions before the hearings got under way, also caused Alito's wife to cry in a staged, crocodile tear event designed to curry sympathy for the 'arduous ordeal' Alito and family had to endure during the confirmation process. Oh, boo hoo. Biden, seemingly in love with his own voice and the emptiness of his statements, talked so much that he forgot he's supposed to be representing America's citizens by asking probing questions, regarding whether Alito would make a good Supreme Court Justice. Both of these people shamed themselves, misused their offices, and failed in their duties to the country.

These hearings were serious, serious, business and it is extremely sad to see US Senators in the 'worlds greatest deliberative body' acting like clueless goobers while Alito waltzed around them without any apparent effort. Some Senators, Russ Feingold, Ted Kennedy, and Chuck Schumer, did try to pin him down, but Alito deftly gave a string of non-answers leaving them frustrated and America unprotected from yet another right wing neo-fascist clone who will be part of the growing cabal that want to be in your bedrooms, listening to your phone calls, stripping your freedoms, and forcing your kids to fight their dirty, crooked wars.

If Specter wants to really get to the bottom of the domestic spying illegalities and work for America, then he better set up a real investigation where capable people can serve the country's interests. He should consider the Watergate hearings model, where people with real prosecutorial and investigative experience played major roles. To think that the Senate Judiciary Committee can ably conduct this critical investigation, one needs to live in a dreamland.
Posted on The Human Stain