Draining the Swamp, D-Style
December 12th, 2006 | by Craig |President Bush got hammered by Dems in 2000 when he couldn’t name some world leaders. Now that the Dems have vowed to drain the swamp, they’ve averred from appointing an impeached judge to the House Intelligence Committee, and instead, found a guy who doesn’t know shit from Shinola1.
Which is the kind of person you want on the Intel Committee.
And, in other news, they’re high-fiving each other because they didn’t appoint William “Cold Cash” Jefferson to the Ways and Means committee.
To me, the only way they can celebrate that decision is for considering him in the first place.
The funny thing, for you local yokels, is that Jefferson says that he hasn’t actually been charged with a crime.
But, it’s the appearance of impropriety, right guys?
I mean, that’s what you said about Conrad Burns, yeah?
Draining the swamp, huh? Looks to me like they’re draining it with a sieve.
1Or polish from Polish. Ba-dum-DUM!
9 Responses to “Draining the Swamp, D-Style”
By Shane C. Mason on Dec 12, 2006 | Reply
You know better than that Craig. He wanted a spot on the committee and they said no. You critique that? Cheap shot.
Yes. The difference? How much support did Conrad get from the nation GOP senate committe? Millions.
Jefferson from the national Democrats?
If you want to get into particulars of these organizations, the article you quoted got the usage wrong anyway. Stein also asked Reyes about the make up of Hezbollah, a Shiite group based in Lebanon.
A shiite is a person who follows the Shia doctrine. The group would be called a shia group, or one that is made up of shiites.
I am not excusing his ignorance, this onlyu goes to show that the complexity of these issues are rather deep. So deep that an author criticizing Reyes for not knowing a fact even got the nuances wrong. The makeups of these groups ought to be known to a member of the intel committe.
But then again, one would expect the head of the FBI counter terrorism group after 911 to know the basic differences between a Sunni and a Shiite, but neither he nor his chief deputy did.
For that matter, Stein himself got it completely wrong on Scarborough while discussing the story “They (Al-Quada) are not predominantly anything. They are Shiite.” Huh? They are Sunni, we just went over that. Sure, it was a skip of the tongue, but these points just don;t some naturally to us.
I can tell you the differences between Catholics and Methodist, but would struggle to talk on even the coarsest nuances of Islam. Granted, that is not my job, I am just sayin’.
By JP on Dec 13, 2006 | Reply
I think the point would be (albeit moot now) had it been Conrad Burns who said ‘Sunni’ instead of ‘Shia’ there would have been a hue and cry about his abject ignorance of this important issue, and that he didn’t deserve to continue embarassing Montana… and that he took money from Abramoff (heh)
You’re right, Shane - it’s incredibly complex, and some of the parsing of what may well be accidental misuses is getting a bit far. That said, it doesn’t promote our need for qualified leaders in either party to ameliorate the Reyes accusation by saying Watson didn’t know either. This all just shows that we’re in need of some better folks at the helm in DC - and that transcends party boundaries, government branches, and houses.
As far as the reporter’s misuse of Shia versus Shiite - it would appear that Tammy Fonce-Olivas of the El Paso Times would have relied on spellcheck in MSWord - because that usage wouldn’t be flagged. Again, just a thought - but not excusing the lapse in journalistic standards.
By Craig on Dec 13, 2006 | Reply
Reading that made me dizzy, Shane.
By Shane C. Mason on Dec 13, 2006 | Reply
Craig, I seldom know for sure if I have been insulted by you…
By Shane C. Mason on Dec 13, 2006 | Reply
This all just shows that we’re in need of some better folks at the helm in DC - and that transcends party boundaries, government branches, and houses.
JP, that is very well stated. Run for Congress in 2008 and you have my vote and full support of any blog I can get my hands on. Simple fact. We need better leadership for sure.
I am not sure that my comment displayed exactly HOW wrong I think that it is for Reyes to have not know this little piece of information. Yes, were it Conrad Burns I would have been ALL over it (Mr Tester, please take notice Al-Queda=Sunni while Hezbolla=Shia so I don’t have to defend that). I just wanted to point out these are complex issues.
The main point I wanted to make was that the Jefferson issue was a cheap shot without merit. What more would you have the Democratic leadership do? Put a kick me sign on his back?
By Craig on Dec 13, 2006 | Reply
Shane, that’s the way I’ll keep it.
By Shane C. Mason on Dec 13, 2006 | Reply
I get that. Just wanted you to know that I don’t make assumptions…
By Craig on Dec 13, 2006 | Reply
Well, I think it’s safe for you to assume that you are not very high on the list that I would well and truly insult.
A good-natured poke, on the other hand . . . >:>
By Shane C. Mason on Dec 14, 2006 | Reply
I am putting you on notice buddy…