Checking Frist's Imbalances

After trying to help the President save face on the port deal, Sen. Frist is once again using his office not to help American citizens, but to cover for his King in the White House. One would assume that after embarassing the entire Congress by diagnosing Terri Schiavo via videtape in addition to his current legal woes with the SEC, that the Senator would have no credibility left as a leader. He is, to quote Andrew Sullivan, "one of the most mediocre men ever to have held the position he does."

His current scam? Threatening to re-structure the Intelligence Committee as a way of blocking NSA hearings.

How desperate must the White House be to use Frist to do their dirty work?

Glenn Greenwald (all over this scandal as always) has the details-

The Senate Intelligence Committee was created in 1976 and, from the beginning, it has been unique in its structure and operation. Due to the urgency of ensuring that our country has nonpartisan and non-politicized oversight over the Government’s intelligence activities, the Intelligence Committee is structured so that -- unlike every other Senate Committee -- the majority is unable to dominate the Committee’s operation and agenda, and the minority has much greater powers than it does on any other Senate Committee.

With the March 7 vote looming on Sen. Rockefeller’s motion for the 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...

Sen. Frist's disturbing letter was in response to a letter of concern by Sen. Reid.

So much for and the rule of law and "carefully safeguarding" the nonpartisan traditions of this Committee. This is nothing new... certain Republican leaders have spent much of the last few years changing rules and laws to suit their purposes. This may be a new low, though. Congress attempts to engage in its constitutionally mandated check and balance obligations (specifically with the exact type of program the Committee exists to regulate) and Frist's first instinct is to radically alter a Senate Committee to shield the White House from investigation. I am reminded here of Nixon forcing his subordinates to fire the special prosecutor when he was getting too close to the truth. Are we far off from a Saturday Night Massacre of our own at this point? Bottom line for me- Not only is this undemocratic... but these are not the actions of innocent men.

The White House knows it has broken the law (and the polls show most Americans believe this) and it will stop at nothing in intimidating Congress to stop looking into that. As Greenwald notes, "Sen. First is literally threatening the Committee not to exercise oversight over the President’s warrantless eavesdropping on Americans". Congress should not be intimidated. Rather, this imperial posturing (the latest in a seemingly neverending long line of it) should only further their resolve to give this matter their full investigative attention.

Let's hope Frist's threat is exposed for what it is- cheap political bullying- and that the Intelligence Committee is allowed to do their jobs without fear of further obstruction.

[PS- A good editorial from US News and World Report: Trust Me? Yeah, Right]

[PPS- This, of course, all comes in light of the Attorney General's "clarifications" on his Judiciary Committee testimony.]