Senator Byrd lets it fly on Iraq Intel Commission.

[reprehensor]

http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2004_cr/s030304.html

Mr. BYRD. Madam President, I thank the distinguished Democratic whip
and I thank the distinguished chairman of the committee for his
courtesy.


Independent Commissions on National Security Issues

Most of us are familiar with the Aesop's fables, having read some of
them at one or more times during our lives. Aesop once told the story
of a jaybird that ventured into a yard where peacocks used to walk.
There the jay found a number of feathers fallen from the majestic birds
when they had last molted. He tied them all to his tail and strutted
toward the peacocks. His cheat was quickly discovered, and the peacocks
harassed the imposter until all his borrowed plumes had fallen away.
When the jay could do no more than return to his own kind, having
watched him from afar, they were equally affronted by the jay's
actions.
The moral of the story, said Aesop, is that it takes more than just
fine feathers to make fine birds.
It is an age-old lesson that the Congress should hold in its mind as
we consider how best to investigate the distorted and misleading
intelligence that the administration used to build its case for war in
Iraq.
On February 6, the President announced the creation of his own
commission to investigate our intelligence agencies to find out, in the
words of Dr. David Kay, why we were almost all wrong about the
administration's prewar claims of huge Iraqi stockpiles of weapons of
mass destruction. If Congress is serious about getting to the bottom of
this apparent intelligence failure and the administration's rush to
war, we must realize that once stripped of its dazzling plumage, the
White House proposal for its own so-called independent commission is a
real, honest to goodness turkey. It is not only fine feathers that make
fine birds.
The President has described the panel that he created as being an
independent commission. Well, nothing could be further from the truth.
This commission is 100 percent under the thumb of the White House. Who
created the panel's charter? The President. Who chooses the panel
members? The President. To whom does the panel report? The President.
Whom shall the panel advise and assist? The President. Who is in charge
of determining what classified reports the panel may see? The
President. Who gets to decide whether the Congress may see the panel's
report? The President.

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. Last paragraph or so, sums it up nicely.

Repubs are so shameless. They don't want an honest investigation because they know they have a lot to hide.

[goclark]

2. Brilliant!

Thatis what I am talking about...creative genius from Byrd.
He is one sharp cookie.
Why isn't this on the front page of every newspaper?

[KoKo]

3. Wonderful! Thanks for this post. Oh Bobby Byrd, if only they would

listen to you!!!!