WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Democrats on Wednesday suggested Republicans should join their call for a nonpartisan "truth commission" to probe whether the Bush administration abused its power, or face partisan congressional investigations.
The GOP response: Forget it.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, was supported in his commission proposal by a former career diplomat and a retired admiral. But he told a hearing he convened that if Republicans "remain absent or resistant, this opportunity can be lost."
| As it should be. This is more than a partisan witch-hunt; it's an attempt to attack government officials for policy decisions. It's what you do when you think you're safe from retaliation. Leahy wants to criminalize policy decisions and keep the Pubs on the defensive. |
Leahy said the alternative was "accountability through more traditional means" -- defined by Leahy's aides as congressional hearings controlled by Democrats.
| Which he'll do anyway. Let him try and have the Pubs mount a full-throated defense. |
Both moderate and conservative Republicans made clear to Leahy, D-Vt., that they'll take their chances with the alternatives to a truth commission. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., ranking GOP member on the committee, said he opposes a truth commission because Democrats "can walk in the front door" of the Justice Department and "ask directions to the relevant filing cabinet."
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, part of his party's conservative wing, added: "The idea that this so-called truth commission would somehow resolve the good-faith disagreements ... is just asking us to believe in the tooth fairy." He said he's willing to have Congress do the job itself.
A 'truth commission' would be owned and operated by the progressive Left. They'd install a few Pub fools and has-beens onto the commission as window-dressing but those Pubs would always get rolled. The commission would hire a whole bunch of young progressive lawyers and staffers, thus providing both a payroll and a way to start grooming the next generation of hacks and thugs.
This is all about beating down any conservative or Pub who might want to serve in a Republican administration in the future, and it has as to do with 'truth' as 'Pravda'. |
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