Sen Biden on Meet the Press

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Senator Joe Biden was on Meet the Press again yesterday, Sunday Nov. 27th, and he was well prepared for the questions thrown at him by Tim Russett, moderator. It is the truth that for the past few years, Sen. Biden has tried to help this Administration win the war in Iraq. I have mentioned a number of times where Sen. Biden 's suggestions made good sense. But they went unheeded by President Bush and more importantly, by Sec. Of Defense Rumsfeld, who I have lost a lot of admiration for over the past few years. He seems to have become very stubborn and not listening to good ideas. He too surrounds himself with idealogues so they all chant the same chorus. Now it seems that many Americans are starting to come to the same conclusion I did back on my posting of August 5th, when I said we were at a turning point and that the war in Iraq felt more and more like Vietnam when we all knew that we weren't going to win that war either and it too was a turning point.

Bush has 6 months maximum to turn this thing positive. I doubt he has the skill or competency or desire to take a risk and make a course change which is required to win this thing. I am afraid it was a bad idea to go in there and it was a bad idea not to have a plan to secure the peace. Everything promised there has gone bad. We don't use the Oil of the Iraqi's to pay for the war. We have no real allies there any more and we are the only ones dying there besides the Iraqi's. God help the people of that nation when we leave.

Congressman Murtha interview on Meet the Press

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Sunday, Congressman Murtha was interviewed on Meet the Press and he gave some very believable facts on why we can't win this war in Iraq and basically said, without actually saying it, that Rumsfeld should have been fired for his mismanagement of the war. I agree with Murtha as do most Americans. Pay day to those who don't heed Murtha and try to discredit him, will face the angry voters in 2006 mid term elections. He said to Tim Russett when Tim asked if the troops would be out of Iraq by election time, "Tim, you hit that right on the head!" Murtha admits now he made a mistake in voting for the war as he believed the Administration. He inferred this Bush was incompetent, not like his father who knew better than going all the way to Baghdad in Gulf war 1.

God bless Congressman Murtha and his family this Thanksgiving and Christmas. He is one courageous man and has done his country another great service.

Cheney and the McCain Bill

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Yes, I'm back now. Lots of news past few weeks so plenty to reflect on. As I stated in an earlier posting, Cheney seems to be defying all logic with his attempt to stop the McCain Bill from becoming the law of the land. His lobbying efforts on this matter has shown his true colors. Maybe he is worried that eventually he will be brought up on War Crimes by the UN and he wants to prevent that by having a law that protects him. I doubt that he will ever leave this country again as a former VP, as he will be afraid they will arrest him, as well as Rumsfeld.

Gee, it's nice to be back!

Away for 2 weeks

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I will be away from Blogging from Nov. 5th to Nov. 18th. See you back here after that. Thanks for visiting and why don't you take a few minutes to read some interesting past postings.
Peace.
Charles

Senator Feinstein comments on Rule 21 on CNN

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Senator Dianne Feinstein gives an interview on CNN regarding the Rule 21 controversy of yesterday. Senator Feinstein said, "There was no intention to bring this matter forward." She said she had checked the agenda for the Intelligence Committee which she serves on, and the matter was not on the agenda until yesterday's use of Rule 21. She said she had written a letter to chairman Pat Roberts to no avail as did Sen. Rockefeller. She adds that nothing would have been done until the Rule 21 was used. Most importantly, she added that she would never have voted for the war if she knew then what she knows now!

Harry Reid invokes Rule 21. See definition of Rule 21 here.

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Senator Harry Reid invokes Rule 21 to have the Senate go into closed session. The reason given for this seems questionable at best and may be the first volley of a tragic political war about to begin. Throw out all the bums!

Rule 21 as defined in Senate Rules states:

SESSION WITH CLOSED DOORS

1. On a motion made and seconded to close the doors of the Senate, on the discussion of any business which may, in the opinion of a Senator, require secrecy, the Presiding Officer shall direct the galleries to be cleared; and during the discussion of such motion the doors shall remain closed.

2. When the Senate meets in closed session, any applicable provisions of rules XXIX and XXXI, including the confidentiality of information shall apply to any information and to the conduct of any debate transacted.

Senator Reid wants the Senate Intelligence Committee to report its Phase 2 findings which was to include the use of Intelligence in the lead up to the war in Iraq. Sen. Reid compared the lack of any oversight of the Bush Administration by the Senate and said that when the Democrats controlled the Senate they had oversight investigations into many of the Clinton Administration shortcomings. The claim is that this Republican Senate which controls both Senate and Congress is not doing its responsibility in its oversight of the Executive branch. He was outraged and in a desperate measure because the Democrats have no real power in this Congress, he invoked Rule 21. Stand by and hold on. It's going to get a lot more divisive, sickening all of us.

Update: 2:00pm PST

Senator Reid's outrage he said on CNN is over the stalling tactics of the Senate Intelligence Committee's lack of progress on the report, called Phase 2, which is on the use of Intelligence in the lead up to the war in Iraq. The Senator rightfully seems very angry and said that Sen. Rockefeller has written on the stall as the ranking minority member of the Senate Intelligence committee. Senator Rockefeller has recently commented on the fact that Senator Frist had cancelled a briefing on Iraq saying the following:

"Senator Frist’s action today to unilaterally cancel a briefing that would have provided all Senators, Republicans and Democrats, with a better understanding of the problems we face in Iraq is indefensible,” Rockefeller said.

“The National Intelligence Council was fully prepared to brief Senators on the latest Intelligence Community assessments on the insurgency, the reconstruction efforts, the status of Iraqi security forces, and the affects of destabilization on neighboring countries.

My colleagues and I requested this briefing from the intelligence community because, to date, administration policy makers have not been completely forthcoming about the situation in Iraq. They have been unwilling or unable to articulate what the strategy is for success in Iraq. And, I’m concerned that this administration continues to paint an overly optimistic picture of events on the ground.

“Democrats and Republicans alike want unvarnished information and we want answers. The American people deserve answers.

To suggest that this briefing cannot and should not happen because it was initiated by Democrats is politicizing our national security."

So it apparent that much is going on behind close doors by the Senate and Republicans afraid to get answers to the important questions. It was probably the only way Senator Reid was going to get anyones attention on the Republican side.

Update: Nov. 2, 2005

Much has been said as to whether Harry Reid used a cheap trick or gimmick yesterday in invoking Rule 21. A day later it can be said that the effect was to keep the focus on the Senate Intelligence report that now has been promised by its Chairman Sen. Pat Roberts. In politics, this Bush Administration has used dirty tricks and gimmicks for 5 years. They should get a taste of how it feels when the shoe is on the other foot. Remember the Swift Boat ads attacking Sen. Kerry that the Administration did not rebuke. It is possible that electronic voting machines could have been tampered with in Ohio according to the Office of management and Budget of Congress report. Remember the Vice President who used his bully pulpit to put fear in us about the possibility of a mushroom cloud in this country because of Saddam Hussein, the supposed link between Saddam and Al Quaida. I could go on and on but you could add many of your own, I'm sure.