Demand An End to Bush's Secrecy
April 12, 2002
These days, you sometimes have to look very carefully to catch important news items. Hidden within the body of the text, small little bits of info slip by every day. Well, Wednesday night I caught one choice nugget of info before it slipped away and I would like to share it with you all out there in Liberal Land.
I'm a big fan of the new Crossfire. So far I haven't missed a show yet. Well, last night I was watching and a clip of Sen. Tom Daschle was shown where he was asking for the Bush Administration to share more information with the Senate.
Here's the relevant clip from Crossfire with the important part highlighted:
NOVAK: I'm heartened by your answer. Can we say now that your majority leader Tom Daschle should stop whining about not getting briefed often enough by the president? I'm reading a biography of Lyndon Johnson, Democratic majority leader with a Republican president, Eisenhower. He didn't whine -- gee, he's not telling me anything -- don't you think Daschle ought to get a grip on himself?
TORRICELLI: And if we had been here during the Johnson Administration, I'm certain you wouldn't have been criticizing a Democratic president then.
I would urge him to stop whining if I'd thought he'd started it, but I think it's right for the majority leader of the United States Senate to expect that the Congress is involved in this process, is consulted in this progress. No one wants in a national emergency to be criticizing an incumbent administration, but I think the administration would be wise at this point, now that the crisis has at least settled down some, we are in it for the long term, to simply bring the Congress, Democrats and Republicans further into negotiation and consultation.
BEGALA: Senator Shelby, let me show you exactly what Tom Daschle said. Had this been Eisenhower, he worked hand in glove with Lyndon Johnson when he was the Senate majority leader. Today the majority leader had rather astonishing revelation -- I want you to take a look on the screen, and then get your comment. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TOM DASCHLE (D-SD), MAJORITY LEADER: I did get a call yesterday from Condoleezza Rice, and I appreciated it. But that's probably the first contact I've had with the president or the administration in over three weeks during all of this critical time. So I do think there ought to be more regular contact and I think a lot of my colleagues feel the same way."
BEGALA: That is astonishing, to freeze the Congress out for three weeks when we have troops in the field and the Middle East in flames, isn't it?
SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R), ALABAMA: I don't know all the particulars of what went on between the president and majority leader. But it's always good to talk, whether you are the majority leader or just a member of the Congress or the Senate between the president and whoever is up there. Dialogue is worth something.
BEGALA: Has the administration been briefing you? Is this just a partisan thing? They only brief the Republicans, or is there a generalized contempt for Congress?
SHELBY: Oh, I think they have been briefing. I'm, of course, the ranking Republican on the Intelligence Committee. I'm briefed all the time. Senator Graham is the chairman. He's a Democrat. He's briefed all the time. Senator Torricelli has served when he was in the House as a member the Intelligence Committee. We get a lot more briefing than probably other people. But I think we are pretty well informed.
TORRICELLI: I think it's fair to say this is not the way the former President Bush handled the Persian Gulf War or the way Bill Clinton handles things in Bosnia or Kosovo. I will tell you a more shocking story than that. A couple of weeks ago in Pakistan, Joe Biden, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, had to call the secretary of state to get transportation into Afghanistan. He couldn't get cooperation. That's just not the way to run a government. Nobody wants to be involved in criticism, but we have an obligation of the Constitution to get information."
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Here is more on Daschle's statements:
CNN CROSSFIRE: Can Bush Win a War on Two Fronts?; Who Should Pay When Yale Students Get Busted? -- Aired April 10, 2002 - 19:00 ET
"I don't think the consultation has been as consistent or regular as I think it should be," Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said when asked if he's satisfied with the level of communication. National security adviser Condoleezza Rice, who met Wednesday with House Republican leaders, did call Daschle on Tuesday.
"I appreciated it, but that's probably the first contact I've had with the president, or the administration, in over three weeks during all of this critical time," Daschle said. "So I do think there ought to be more regular contact, and I think a lot of my colleagues feel the same way."
After Sept. 11, leaders of the House and Senate met weekly with President Bush for breakfast at the White House. More recently, that became every two weeks. And it's been more than a month since the last breakfast.
"They've canceled every single one for six weeks," said Kori Bernards, spokeswoman for House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo. "After we came back from Christmas recess, they said they were going to have one every two weeks instead of every week."
In fact, the last one was six weeks ago, on Feb. 27, Bernards said.
Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer said that even with the lag, this White House briefs Congress far more than past administrations have.
"Despite the bellyaching and whining, the president and his staff will continue the extensive consultations and briefings we're engaged in," Fleischer said. "The president is looking forward to welcoming a bipartisan group of leaders who just returned from a two-week recess to the Oval Office for their regular breakfast."
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As I was already fuming over the Rice Private Security Briefing of the House Republicans, in which the House Democrats were shut out, so this little video clip stuck in my mind and I'm glad it did, or else I would have missed the following:
Defiant Sharon Losing Support in White House
"Bush continued to call for patience with Israel during a meeting yesterday with 16 Republican congressional leaders. "We're Israel's close friend, and we are trying to get the process started to bring stability to the region," Bush said, according to sources."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28981-2002Apr10.html
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So, not only has Rice held a secret meeting with the House Republicans on security matters, but Bush himself managed to find the time to speak to the Republicans on The Middle East situation. Does he not have time for the ELECTED representatives of the People, or does he just have time for HIS people?
I have called Tom Daschle's office to make sure he knows this info, since he has said publicly that much of the info he has been finding out about The Bush Administration's actions has not been from The Bushies themselves, but the newspapers. I was unable to speak with a human, and I'm not so great with machines, so I urge all of you to contact your Democratic Congressmen and women and ask them when they are going to call the Bush Administration on their fondness for keeping everything secret and the Democrats out of the loop. Better yet, call your Republicans representatives and give them an earful too.
The Bush Administration' secrecy must stop and it's high time that they answer for it.
So Mr. Daschle, is it time to Subpoena Ridge yet? I want to know what this Administration has been up to, and there is NO trust involved. It is time to find out EVERYTHING that this Administration has been doing behind your backs. Anything less and you will have failed in your representation of the American People.
Contact info:
Thomas Daschle (D - SD)
509 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2321Dick Gephardt:
Washington, D.C.
1236 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-2671
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Contributed by BuzzFlash Reader and Democratic Underground Volunteer Moderator, S. A. Lowery AKA Khephra
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