Assuming that to be the case, there really can’t be a discussion of oversight until the Dems first ‘expose, decloak, and reveal’ the Republican propaganda.

In other words, the Dems have to work through two phases: (1) expose the propaganda, and (2) see what lies beneath and perpetuates it. Until the Dems reveal the interests driving the propaganda, they can’t have meaningful discussions about what rules should be in place.
Meanwhile, all Cheney only has to maintain the firewall/ propaganda.

Random ideas about what may underlie the Republican/BushCheney propaganda:
(a) BushCheney crimes (what if Bush and/or Cheney viewed those torture videos…?! evidence of sadistic conduct would require impeachment, whether the Dems want to go there or not).
(b) multinationals that need to influence and control US government regulatory and legal resources.
(c) Xtainist radical ‘enforcers’, who depend on US defense-related government contracts.

BushCheney have one task: keep the lid on. They have no other options.
The Dems have four tasks: (1) expose the crimes /frauds, (2) explain their significance, (3) implement a new set of standards, and (4) monitor the new standards, adjusting as needed. Dems face larger challenges, and much greater complexity; they also have FAR more opportunity.

Meanwhile, the petty conflicts among committee staff only sink American interests. Every single day America fails to address climate-related problems that are already affecting crop production, water supplies, public health, business costs, etc, etc puts us in more danger.

People with smarts and energy aren’t going to let themselves be hamstrung by committee-related vendettas; people sense that there’s an urgent need to move on. For Christ’s sake, even Huckabee’s surge embodies the growing levels of frustration.

The longer those idiots sneak around knifing one another in the back, the worse for American interests.

But now there are no Howard Bakers, Warren Rudmans, William Cohens. The craven lickspittles are the ultimate source of the problem.

Though of course, a lot of the money and toys comes out of Armed Services now anyway, since so much of our intell is under DOD.

On the other half of the page was a long, long Kissinger guest column saying exactly the same thing about the NIE.

Translation of Ignatius/Kissinger:
“Oversight” = neoconservative political control of intelligence products
“Partisanship” = Democratic oversight of intelligence

The election must produce a true mandate for such a rebuild, with larger majorities in Congress to do it.

A problem with this is that it presupposes electing more Democrats. But, THE biggest problem right now IS the Democrats. They are not doing their job, especially the leadership (I have long believed that “leadersheep” was very apt). The Democrats have become the “Hold and Fold Party”. The voters in this country know it too. So for everybody that thinks we are going to waltz into 2009 with newly crowned and enhanced majorities, time to wake up; that thought is being pissed down the drain rapidly. If the Democrats cannot seize the moment, and they have not only failed to seize, they have rejected the moment when it was served up on a silver platter, they are toast. If the Democrats can’t work to bring accountability for the past and hope for something different in the future, there is no reason to vote them a mandate and larger majority. The Republicans may be playing a losing game, but they are most definitely winning at it. The Democrats are playing a losing game and losing at it. Who do you think the greater American people, deep down, respect more?

I would try to limit the intelligence committe to asking “Do we have good intelligence in _____? How? Why or Why not? Repeat, Do we have good intelligence in ____” and then kick the legal issues to Judiciary, tech issues to Science and Technology, and just keep asking “Do we have good intelligence in ____?”.

Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller, a central figure in the U.S. detainee-abuse scandal, this week invoked his right not to incriminate himself in court-martial proceedings against two soldiers accused of using dogs to intimidate captives at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, according to lawyers involved in the case.

comes to mind as another reminder of in-your-face evidence of torture coming from DOD upper echelons, yet entirely ignored (eg: no oversight). There were indications everywhere Miller was up to his ass in this stuff well before this article, yet no meaningful action to investigate… nothing. Miller’s pleading the “fif” (to borrow from Dave Chappelle) was barely anecdotal.