In Mourning

The Senate part of the legislative branch of government has just been pronounced dead. When I heard the news, I was disappointed but, sadly, not surprised. This branch of government has completely abdicated its key role -- that of providing oversight of the executive branch.

Notwithstanding previous claims made by three Republican senators on the Senate Intelligence Committee that they wanted to investigate the illegal NSA snooping, they all caved in to intense White House pressure. It's a sad but accurate commentary on our times. The reason why so many of these bad things have happened is because the perps in the executive branch are not being held accountable by Congress and Congress is delinquent because the voters don't hold the members accountable and the voters don't care enough to become informed and act on their conclusions and, in this, they are aided and abetted by an ineffectual media.

Glenn and Jane share my sentiments...

Glenn:

Nobody who has lived outside of a cave for the last five years could possibly be surprised by any of this. One of the reason we are at the point we're at in our country -- where we have a President who not only breaks the law but claims he has the right to do so, while the media barely finds any of it worthy of much attention -- is because the Congress has completely abdicated its responsibilities at the altar of cult-like obedience to White House decrees. That's just one of the many rotted roots in our government.

I doubt that many people who want to ensure that the Administration is held accountable for their law-breaking were placing their hopes in the likes of those principle-free, easily manipulated "independent Republicans" such as Olympia Snowe and Chuck Hagel. If this scandal is to be resolved how it ought to be, it won't be because of anything they do.

[...]

Could our government be any more broken?

Jane:

CNN is reporting that the Intelligence Committee has knuckled under to Bill Frist, shirked their responsibility for oversight, collaborated with the criminal Bush cabal and voted not to look into the illegal NSA wiretaps. Ed Henry says that they agreed to propose new legislation requiring a 45 day reauthorization cycle.

Proving once again -- there is no such thing as a moderate Republican.

[...]

Last week Olympia Snowe said she would vote to investigate George Bush's NSA wiretap crimes as part of the Senate Intelligence Committee. In December she said:

“Revelations that the U.S. government has conducted domestic electronic surveillance without express legal authority indeed warrants Congressional examination. I believe the Congress – as a coequal branch of government – must immediately and expeditiously review the use of this practice,” said Snowe.

Today she caved like a cheap suitcase.

[...]

From Bloomberg:

"This committee is basically under control of the White House," Rockefeller told reporters after the two-hour meeting today in Washington. "It's an unprecedented bout of political pressure from the White House."

Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts said any inquiry would be detrimental to national security.

"We should fight the enemy, not fight each other," Roberts, a Kansas Republican said. "The program is extremely important."

After negotiations with the Bush administration, the panel voted to create a new subcommittee whose seven members, out of the committee's 15 total lawmakers, would receive full briefings on the program. Those briefings had been limited to just Rockefeller and Roberts.

Emptywheel (from the comments):

Interesting note: Roberts has announced the 4 members of SSCI that will be part of this "oversight" committee (and I use scarequotes advisedly). Roberts, Bond, Hatch, and DeWine.

So the three people who invented anti-Wilson conclusions for the SSCI, plus DeWine, who seems like he's going for double wingnuttery or nothing in OH.