It Doesn’t Matter
by ChrisFebruary 6th, 2006 12:33 am
This really ought to be exciting, but I can’t bring myself to even the brink of optimism. Have a look.
The Republican who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee said today that he believed the Bush administration had violated the law with its warrantless surveillance program and that its legal justifications for the program were “strained and unrealistic.”
The program “is in flat violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act,” said the chairman, Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who will open committee hearings on Monday.
Followed by, as most things are these day, the hedge.
The senator, who has clashed with the administration before, said that it was clear to him that the law had been violated. The program, he said on NBC, “is in flat violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.” But it remained to be seen, Mr. Specter added, whether that statute is inconsistent with the Constitution.
Not an unreasonable premise, or one that I don’t understand, but a hedge nevertheless. Specter, like nearly every modern Republican maverick, has a nasty habit of dangling out on the ledge, only to jump back into the well oiled arms of the Republican party line.
It doesn’t matter. I’d bet good money, if I had it, that Specter won’t do anything more than what is superficially necessary to maintain his reputation as a maverick. Anything beyond what is useful to Specter will likely be out of bounds and quickly rebutted by the chairman (please prove me wrong Arlen).
Whatever useful information emerges, or leaks out, will be quickly shit straight through the Republican party’s well paid spin apparatus and gobbled up by the media. Whatever inanity emerges will be countered by an inept Democratic party spin apparatus along with a pile of lefty geeks with blogs. Needless to say, I’m not optimistic. Until we get this outrage business down, it doesn’t matter. Please don’t get over it.
February 6th, 2006 at 2:05 am
[…] *Chris seems less optimistic. […]
February 6th, 2006 at 6:49 am
It feels very Oliver Twist to feel soo grateful for even the baby steps that get taken towards justice. Am not optimistic we’ll get the impeachment needed either
February 6th, 2006 at 1:44 pm
I hadn’t thought of this in terms of impeachment. My biggest concern was the trouncing of individual rights and the fourth ammendment.
There’s a possibility that even a weak-kneed moderate Republican like Specter could hold out for more oversight, or (gasp) maybe even a warrant or two. All of which may only amount to baby steps, but anything better than what we’re getting now would be worth the steps, however truncated they may be.
Though it’s absolutely true, imo, that in terms of impeachment chances, Specter’s words mean nothing at all.