No one could have predicted this would happen:
In a bid to beef up House Republicans’ ability to scrutinize an Obama administration, incoming House Oversight and Government Reform ranking member Darrell Issa, R-Calif., is moving to increase the GOP side of the panel’s oversight power.
A day after he was formally selected as ranking member last week, Issa ousted 14 of 39 Republican committee staffers, including many senior aides. Outgoing staffers said they were told the panel’s minority will shift its focus away from legislation toward oversight of federal agencies.
By bringing in aides with investigative backgrounds, committee Republicans believe they can increase their capacity to conduct independent investigations, despite lacking the majority’s subpoena power.
And you know what? This is what they are supposed to do. Still, it is pretty funny given the GOP obstruction of oversight of the past eight years. One of Issa’s shining moments in the sun, using parliamentary tricks and delaying tactics to make sure Doug Feith did not have time to provide testimony to Congress:
It should come as no surprise that the culprit was none other than Rep. Steve King, who, through sheer schoolboy effrontery in a House subcommittee last week, muted the testimony of Douglas Feith, one of the key architects of the Bush administration’s systematized disregard for the Geneva Convention. King’s constituents had a right, as did the nation at large, to hear Feith answer for his part in making a spurious case for war.
***Evoking the memory of that fateful day, King asked the committee’s chairman whether there was adequate time for an opening statement. Issa followed suit by raising a parliamentary inquiry, a failed attempt to “summon” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Issa’s distraction allowed King the time to piece together yet another speech in the guise of a clarification. The pair then insisted upon recognizing an archaic five-minute limit on questioning, which is hardly, if ever, observed. This measure proved to be debilitating. As each representative raised her or his questions, Feith found himself pressed for time with his answers. The back and forth that ensured was confusing at best. Each exchange was highly constrictive and limited in its clarity. The subcommittee chairman, Jerrold Nadler of New York, was continually forced to remind those present that, “the time of the gentleman” had expired.
More on his antics here. Wankers.
JGabriel
John Cole @ Top:
So does this mean the Democrats are supposed to take every step possible – even if it’s just petty, mean, and/or vindictive – to frustrate such efforts, just as the GOP did for the past 8 years?
Because given GOP incompetence and ideological idiocy, that might be the most patriotic course the Democrats could take with respect to the R’s.
.
J. Michael Neal
I’m not even going to be as kind as John. It is the GOP’s job to provide oversight, but that’s not what they are going to do. They’re going to go on a scavenger hunt for trivia.
Xecky Gilchrist
Still, it is pretty funny given the GOP obstruction of oversight of the past eight years.
I can hardly wait to see what their idea of "oversight" is for the next four. My guess is it’ll look something like their oversight from 1994-1998.
ETA: …so yeah, what J. Michael Neal said.
liberal
I had the same thoughts as those who posted above: they ain’t gonna do oversight. They’re just going to try to throw sand in the gears.
Dave
I can’t wait to see the GOP House members hold their "investigative hearings" in those cramped rooms down in the basement, just like they did to the Democrats before 2006. What’s good for the goose…
El Cid
I hate these people soooooo f***ing much. I’m sorry, there is just zero value in the entire Republican Party, and they only vary in the amount by which they strain to damage the nation and its people, as well as the world.
r€nato
what El Cid said.
r€nato
all you need to know is that they are gearing up to investigate not legislate… despite the fact that there is nothing to investigate.
But… they’ll find something. How else will the staff justify their jobs if they don’t dig up some dirt?
El Cid
They’re gearing up to be a bunch of lying, whining, falsely accusing dicks. They’re not gearing up for ‘oversight’.
Suggesting that Republicans are preparing for ‘oversight’ would require the assumption that they know the difference between proper and improper governing decisions, or the difference between proper action and negligence, or how to tell accurate information and full disclosure from propaganda and stonewalling.
There’s no evidence, zero, that the Republicans as a political movement know any of that, except for the instinctual ability to always be on the wrong side of each one of those bifurcations.
Cain
What really gets me is that after all that ill treatment for the past 12 years, the Democrats will allow them all the power they want. I really feel enraged knowing that we have such incompetent leaders in congress who not only capitulate towards the republican, but apparently also blocks their own caucus.
Even when the dems have the majority they are still the minority. Next cycle, we start kicking out some Dems and replace with better one. Definitely Reid and Pelosi are on the list to get shunted out. Sadly, I have no idea who we can put in to replace them. The long timers seem like dunces to me.
Citizens First
cain
Atanarjuat
What’s with the pre-emptive strike against Issa & Co.?
For years, liberals have whined that Republicans only care about winning elections, not governing effectively.
And waddaya know?
The minute some leading Republicans demonstrate a commitment to take their oaths of office seriously and provide needed oversight of government (which is part of the job Congress), you Liberal Hive Minders do a 180 and rage about what partisan scumbags Republicans truly are.
Conservatives = bad.
Liberals = good.
It just never ends with you leftists, does it?
Zifnab
You say that now. But they’ll spend the next 4 years sniffing panties and bemoaning the cost of some bureaucrat’s rental car while billions of dollars get whisked down the rabbit hole that is military contracting, aggro-business subsidies, and various other kickbacks and boondoggles.
Clinton did a fair amount of shady shit back in the 90s, but the GOP only called him on stuff they cleared through their lobbyists first.
r€nato
El Cid, despite the sour grapes of the right over losing the election, Obama enjoys a tremendous reservoir of goodwill even among those who did not vote for him.
If the GOP were smart, they’d lay low for the first six months of the Obama presidency and keep the attack dogs on a short leash.
But, the GOP is not smart, and they’ll probably start accusing Obama of high crimes and misdemeanors beginning on January 21. Nothing pisses away one’s credibility quite like being the boy who cries ‘wolf!’ all of the time.
As usual, they will think that memes which play with the Fox News crowd will also gain traction with the rest of America. As we saw with Terry Schiavo, these partisan political jihads can and do backfire. See "Cole, John" for an example.
r€nato
…I suppose a good countermeasure against this effort to gin up faux scandals, would be for Pelosi to ask one of the committees to investigate one of the numerous Bush-era scandals which went completely un-investigated by the GOP Congress.
Preferably if they can implicate Issa or other GOP troublemakers bent on destroying an Obama presidency regardless of the consequences to the rest of us.
Attanut, all the proof you need of Democrats putting country before party is the fact that Bush was not impeached despite ample cause.
If the shoe was on the other foot, if Democrats had impeached a Republican president over a trivial matter, you better believe the thin-skinned GOP would have begun impeachment proceedings the day a Democratic president took office.
-Trolls Last.
Zifnab
Lols.
DO NOT UNDERSTAND! DOES NOT COMPUTE! DEFAULT: LIBERALS ARE HYPOCRITS. ALERT! ALERT!
Atanarjuat would make a better spoof if he fielded responses with at least vaguely less transparent blind spots in them.
"Democrats are upset that ‘oversight’ Republicans only deliver ‘oversight’ during Democrat administrations? That’s so ridiculous! You’re ridiculous! I am shocked at your ridiculousness!"
Yawn. I demand better opposition.
TenguPhule
Except they’re not. They’re going to be giant Douches and pretend all the crimes committed with their silent blessings over the last 8 years never happened.
Instead, we will be treated to 8 years of "But this fellow used to work under Clinton and knew someone who knew someone who talked to someone about Waco!"
Mandatory workcamps for all GOP party officials, let them eat bread earned through working in the streets, repairing the roads they’ve let crumble.
Napoleon
They are already doing that with Holder by bringing up the Elen Gonzolez/Cuban boy matter.
r€nato
hmmm. While I still enjoy the idea of simply putting them up against the wall, I do like your idea which has the merit of allowing us to witness their suffering.
TenguPhule
Yeah. so take that and mulitply it by 8 years worth.
I think that would give anyone reasonable cause in any court in the land.
TheFountainHead
"ZOMG! Rulez! We haz them!" – GOP
bago
Simply put, any congressional testimony solicited by any Republican should be predicated with the requirement that they will not testify until Rove & Co. answer their subpoenas first.
Atanarjuat
r€nato said:
Ample cause of what? Despite all the partisan mudslinging from perpetually bitter leftists, President George W. Bush has proven to be an honorable man who has ensured the safety of the United States of America.
Yeah, yeah, I know, I know… keeping the nation safe is a crime worthy of impeachment IF the safekeeper is a conservative. It never fails.
Joshua Norton
Word. That whole bunch who has left the world in shambles is now going to spend all their time yelling "Fire" every time someone lights a match.
Give me a break already.
TenguPhule
Fixed for accuracy.
Illegal wiretapping, Torture, Cronyism over Science, Fiscal Destruction of Government….There isn’t a shoe big enough to step on him and grind down.
r€nato
he sure did not keep the nation safe on 9/11/2001.
he sure did not keep the nation safe by not capturing Osama bin Laden.
he sure did not keep the nation safe by going to war in Iraq and then botching the post-Saddam aftermath.
Oh what am I doing? Atta is either a spoof or a troll.
Just go die in a fire, Atta.
TenguPhule
I have always felt it would be poetic justice to turn Bush and Company out into Iraq outside of the Green Zone, with only the clothes on their backs and leave them there for the Iraqis.
bootlegger
@Atanarjuat:
By safe, Attanut, you mean safe from the thousands of terrorist attacks against our troops, allies and assorted innocent people during the last 8 years? Oh, I see, you mean safe here in the Homeland while other people die. You betcha.
bootlegger
@TenguPhule:
And their shoes, don’t forget the shoes. They’ll need something to defend themselves.
Eric U.
I propose that the main things they will find will be those policies that Republicans from the current administration have implemented.
Reverend Dennis
We can count on our ADHD media to help the Republicans every step of the way – not because their oversight will uncover much but because their speculations and insinuations will be "news." The way they handled Obama’s response to the Blagojevich matter is only a preview.
Republicans: "What is Obama hiding?"
Newsie: "Sources have revealed to us that Obama is hiding something. What is Obama hiding?""
Sane Person: "Nothing."
Newsie: "Obama has denied that he is hiding anything although he has failed to prove it. Joining me is Newt Gingrich who has some thoughts on what Obama may be hiding."
Lather, rinse, repeat.
comrade rawshark
You stood and struck a pose when you said that didn’t you?
Against whom has Bush ensured our safety? I never really felt unsafe yet still see nothing he’s done that made things any better.
bootlegger
Didn’t taking off your shoes in the airport make you feel safer (well, not any more of course, they are a throwing weapon). And don’t forget the dangerous bottles of shampoo.
The Moar You Know
And this is now the core of the problem. We’ve been dealing with the same thing in California, with Republicans so obstructionist that the state is now on the verge of economic collapse. Unlike Congress, it looks like our state Dems have had enough and are now going to take steps to shut the Republican obstructionism down. If/when this first attempt fails (and I think that it will) our Dems are going to take further steps and shut the Republicans out of the process for good.
Congressional Dems are going to have to grow a spine pretty quickly here, because if they allow the same shenanigans under the Obama administration that they allowed under Clinton’s, the electorate is really going to declare a "pox on both their houses" and then this nation is going to undergo a rather profound political revolution. Coupled with the current economic trouble, that could end up going in a direction nobody wants.
Reverend Dennis
No one has been trampled by an elephant stampede on American soil since Bush took office. There you have it.
The Moar You Know
@comrade rawshark: He saluted the flag and then stuck a .45 in his mouth. At least that’s what my imagination is showing.
Keith
My predictions are:
1) 4 years (minimum) of investigations into Tony Rezko and how he is connected to Obama.
2) 4 years (minimum) of filibuster threats against any liberal-leaning nominations made by Obama, plus complaints of "but he said he’d govern from the middle" for any non-Republican nominations
3) open letters from Harry Reid expressing puzzlement at said complaints followed by caving into filibuster threats
4) an impeachment threat when it is discovered during the Rezko investigation that Obama "lied" about quitting smoking.
Joshua Norton
Right. And I’m Marie of Romania.
He really tried to "insure" safety when he wanted to sell our ports to his Arab friends with no US oversight. Gee, I wonder where an Al Queda sleeper cell in the US would go for coverage and to blend in? Surely not unloading their dynamite at a US port full of people who look just like him. No sireee. Safe as houses, that little bit of repig mental masturbation.
r€nato
more likely that he masturbated to his full-sized cardboard cutout of Bush.
Reverend Dennis
The Republicans are enabled in their obstructionism by the fact that California is one of three states that requires a two-thirds legislative majority on budget and tax matters. Combine that with the fact that we elect only the most extreme wingnut Republicans to our legislature and it’s no wonder that we’re in an intractable mess.
r€nato
Keith, while I don’t doubt we’re in for four to eight years of ginned-up faux scandals, impeachment threats are highly unlikely unless the GOP controls Congress.
John Cole
You know, I should probably add that Henry Waxman really did do a decent job (in my estimation). It just seems like he got no help from anyone else.
I may be wrong about that, and I know when I was a Republican I shit all over Waxman, but my opinion has really gone through the roof in the past few years.
Atanarjuat
Joshua Norton, there’s no need to be insulting. President George W. Bush never promised everyone sunshine lollipops and rainbow unicorns, but he did swear to defend us against any and all enemies who seek to attack our country.
You can keep producing all the supposedly damning examples of Bush’s failures, but they only come off as overheated partisanship in the end. What truly counts are results, and after 9/11 and the Anthrax Attacks, our great country has no suffered not one terrorist attack from foreign enemies.
With that kind of indisputable record, it’s little wonder that Republicans in Congress are not apt to join Democrats and the leftist rabble in the blogosphere in condemning a President who deserves nothing but our praise and eternal thanks.
r€nato
"other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"
You know, Atta, you’d get a lot more respect around here if you’d engage us in reasonable debate rather than shrill strawman polemics.
bootlegger
@Atanarjuat:
Unless you are living abroad, an American ally, or some poor soul in a Baghdad slum. But gotta hand it to him, the Homeland is safe while Rome burns around us. Good times.
bootlegger
@r€nato: Don’t forget the group ad hominen "hive mind", sure to win friends and influence enemies.
Keith
r€nato: Two words – Blue Dogs. As submissive dogs do, they will roll over on command
bago
Like I said, Atanarajunugs is a troll by Brachiator.
Zifnab
Oh cruel fate! Why doust thou hatest me? That were I another man – Twer a Clinton or a Reagen – thy foul slings and arrows may not pierce mine chest! But by damned chance was it that I, Bush the Lesser, who did but only serve his country, should be cast out by it.
This is everyone’s fault but mine!
Gregory
Atan, please remind us what actions Bush took in response to the August 6 PDB.
Other than telling the briefer that he/she had covered his/her ass, of course.
diablo
Too true, Mr. Atanarjuat. I dread the day that I will no longer repose in the secure womb that is GWB’s America. Greatness is seldom recognized in its time. We know, of course, that these ingrates will be chastised, and that we will be rewarded in due time. Patience… courage…
TenguPhule
Proof of his failure: He did not shoot Dick Cheney and Rumsfield and then stick the gun in his own mouth and pull the trigger.
Delia
Darrell Issa, huh? Well, the Republic is in good, experienced hands, as far as wankers go. Issa is the goombah who saved California by taking down Gray Davis and led to the Governator’s terrific leadership. And everyone can see how well that’s working out.
binzinerator
Oversight was what they were supposed to do and it will be what they still won’t be doing.
It will no longer be obstruction of oversight, it will be just plain obstruction.
The last nail in conservatism’s coffin will be the success of Obama’s policies. They want things to get worse, not better, and that is what they will be doing for the next 4 years — throwing sand in the gears.
Only goopers would call their planned monkey-wrenching of the recovery of America as ‘oversight’. It’s that Orwellian thing they do so well.
Atanarjuat
Ah, yes, thanks for the reminder of Democratic Congressional Representative Henry Waxman’s investigative efforts. His activities in the past several years can be summed up with this image:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51qI1d0pNAL._SS400_.jpg
Now that Republicans will be returning the favor, all of you howling, rage-against-the-dying-of-the-light leftists have nothing to complain about.
binzinerator
Very careful phrasing there — intended to gloss over the anthrax terror attacks that followed 9/11.
Yeah, apart from all those people who were sickened and killed by those attacks, no one’s been attacked so we’ll just ignore that part, eh? Call ’em ‘foreign enemies’ and that’ll provide the rug under which you can sweep yet another massive security failure by George Bush.
And don’t you remember how the bushies spread the word that Iraq was the source of the anthrax? Were the Bushies lying then or are they lying now?
We got no proof as to who did it, nothing on who masterminded it, and know one knows the motive. We got lots of lies and obfuscations. We had one guy who the FBI told everyone he did it and they hounded him for years without charging him before they admitted they were wrong. And got the shit sued out of them for what they did to him and the Feebs had to pay millions. Oops. We got another guy the Feebs now also swear did it, but they hounded him too without charging him until he finally killed himself, effectively making him an ideal scapegoat.
You got proof regarding those involved in the anthrax terrorism? Why are you holding out on the Feebs? Country first my ass.
diablo
Indeed, Mr. Atanarjuat: Waxman is indisputably a partisan-leftist busybody. "Oversight" to him means harassing the productive and "adult" segments of our society to curry favor with the Daily Kos. Yet I am sanguine. Soon, the electorate will tire these puerile games, and return to power Cheneyesque statesmen, who know what it takes to run our exceptional nation.
Atanarjuat
binzinerator quoted, then said:
Actually, that’s very not-so-careful selective quoting on your part. Here’s what I wrote, in full, with nothing trimmed out so as to change the meaning or "gloss over" anything:
Notice the "and the Antrhax Attacks" part of that sentence? Perhaps in the world of the Liberal Hive Mind, specifically including a known event is a clever way to "gloss" it over, but for everyone else who is able to think for themselves, it’s not,
As a result, the rest of your invective-filled tirade loses impact to the point of irrelevance.
Once again, RIF candidates: after 9/11 and the Anthrax Attacks, the USA has not suffered ANY terrorist attack from foreign enemies, and you have President George W. Bush to thank for our continued safety from harm.
TenguPhule
If we just pretend that two attacks on Bush’s watch didn’t happen and the people who plotted it were never caught, Bush has a sterling record!
Clap louder, Tinkerbell.
The Moar You Know
@Delia: There are some other reasons that Issa didn’t run, and they have nothing to do with Ahnuld. There is a fair amount of reason to believe that he may have been involved with a car theft ring in his younger years – his brother was convicted of GTA. Issa himself was charged but, I believe (this gets murky here) not convicted. Issa later made his fortunes in car alarms.
Atanarjuat
TenguPhule said:
Why would we need to pretend?
I repeatedly invoked 9/11 and the Anthrax Attacks to make it clear that AFTER these tragic events occurred, President George W. Bush took firm step to make sure these things would never happen again ON HIS WATCH.
I’m wondering why that’s so hard to understand.
Delia
Atarnuts is right. We have not been attacked again by terrorists on Bush’s watch. And may I point out that we have not been attacked by the evil inhabitants of the planet Zork, either. The whingeing liberals always forget about that.
Fact Check
You mean like the increased oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac that President Bush, Alan Greenspan, and the Republicans pushed for thirty-something times since 2001, but which, as even Bill Clinton admits in typical CYA fashion, the Democrats in congress blocked at every single turn? You know, the missing oversight that caused this economic nightmare we’re in?
I now return you to your previously scheduled willful ignorance.