Democrats attack Cheney for secrecy...Reid calls for hearings.

hmmm...this could get interesting, if they cannot go after an out of control admin, when the president is at 28% approval and the VP is even lower , with this kind of BLATANT obstruction...then they never will, we'll see?

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070622.wcheney0622/BNStory/International/home

WASHINGTON — U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney came under fresh Democratic criticism for secrecy on Friday as a top lawmaker vowed to investigate his handling of classified national security documents.

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid also rejected Cheney's claim he was exempt from an executive order that sets government-wide procedures for safeguarding such information.

"There will be hearings held on this," Mr. Reid said on Capitol Hill. "We have to hold up to the light what has been going on in this White House. ... The will of the Congress has been ignored, the will of the American people has been ignored."...

...Mr. Waxman said on Friday: "The White House is giving us an absurdity for the ages. The Vice-President is pretending he isn't part of the executive branch and the White House is pretending that the rules for protecting classified information are being followed."

Less hearings, more handcuffs. Please!

I-M-P-E-A-C-H-M-E-N-T, that's what 'WE' want!!

:eyes:

would be nice to see someone actually brought to account for their transgressions..

and Wolfowitz isn't too happy right now.

He's criminal ...

Arrest him!

I'm totally serious. Send armed gaurds and arrest him. Try him for crimes.

PERIOD

It's worse than no hearing at all.

They lie or just play stupid.

What good are they doing??

and you've already decided that there will be no consequence. Every significant action that Congress takes originates in a hearing of some sort. Besides, Reid isn't going to be acting on this alone while the other Democratic legislators stand back and watch. Is it too much to ask for folks to have some faith in our democratic process and not expect our legislators to leapfrog due process at every turn?

I say give them a goddamn chance.

It sucks, but I'd rather live here, than in a dreamland.

Btw, I did not say we should give up. We should never give up pushing for what was promised to us.

If the Dems in congress don't stop these wars, they're going to be a sad lot come November 2008.

So Cheney says he's not part of the Executive Branch?

The White House website lists him as part of the Cabinet.

If Cheney thinks he's only part of the Legislative Branch, then by what right does he even have access to classified information that the Senate doesn't have?

And most importantly, doesn't this preclude Cheney's ever claiming Executive Privilege again? As well as subjecting him to rules that apply to the Legislative Branch? Has he thought this through?

He's a member of both the Executive and Legislative branches, therefore must answer to neither, while still retaining executive priviledge.

And nobody's sweetheart!

No wonder the world hates the Congress & Senate more than it hates *

If you're not part of the executive branch, then your just another government drone we can nail with a simple majority. :) Let's get Kucinich's bill in high gear!

But first, the hearing will take place with Cheney no doubt in absentia. Do we really think he will respond to an "invitation" and then a subpoena from the committee? And what will be the consequence... more hearings on what to do about him not showing up for the first hearing.

start the impeachment trials.

Cheney and Bush will tell them to shove their subpeonas where the sun don't shine and that will be that. So far that seems to be the way its playing out.

:banghead:

Who's going to bring charges for contempt? Who's going to bring criminal charges for fraud and endangering national security and misappropriation and obstruction and war crimes and so on and on and on?

WHO?!!!!

All this Congress does is have hearings - and then they do absolutely nothing.

We really need to vote in a new congress!

everything that is being 'proposed' on this thread has to originate in a 'hearing' of some sort. And, this will certainly not be the last congressional action on this.

...... :kick:

Gonzales is still running around smirking to everybody that he's going to finish his term as he continues to wreak havoc at the DoJ. Rice has been allowed to give her subpoena the finger for far too long; the GOP continues to shred and otherwise destroy subpoenaed emails. "Hearings" are garnering an image as toothless wonders, that's why I for one am frustrated.

but there would be no declarations if there wasn't some sort of confrontation coming from our Democrats who are pursuing the administration's myriad of abuses as ably as they might.

It's almost a certainty that all of our concerns will manifest themselves in pressure from other Democrats to influence what ever they proceed with in whatever committee they choose to deal with this.

Look, we do have power to act on these things, but that power or ability is not automatic. Congress (rightly) investigates, then acts. Hell, the Libby thing took some time didn't it? All good prosecutions take time to work through whatever process the targets are accountable to. Congress has the added complication of it's membership and their ability to influence (for good or bad) every step of the road to accountability. That's why they have rules and procedures, so that the process doesn't grind to a halt in some chaotic flurry of objections.

Hearings are normally the first step in anything significant that Congress undertakes. Let's try and influence the direction that takes instead of just declaring the whole thing impotent from the inception.

This thread really seems to be the venting of frustration at very little to show for all of these hearings. And also, how long will it take our leadership to understand that if they don't frame what they're doing in the most effective, powerful ways possible, whatever it is they ARE accomplishing is for naught if public perception continues to remain that they are being ineffective.

for any of these "hearings", all for nothing. As for the process "taking time", bullshit, these are out and out crimes and lies, Reid and the rest of these bent over critters are complicit.

with a hearing of some sort.

That's how our democratic institution works. Due process ensures accountability . . . and, that takes time.

about and going along with their fascist criminal leaders.

America has a chance to do the right thing NOW and impeach these criminals...and the democrats are letting it slip away, one day at a time.

I'm losing confidence in Harry and Nancy totally. Maybe we need to impeach them and look for some democrats who want to do their jobs of protecting and upholding the Constitution, like Harry and Nan swore on the Bible to do?

Maybe we can't get the votes to impeach Bush and Cheney...but we can get their criminal acts recorded on the congressional record, FOR ALL TIME! Maybe we can keep another generation down the line, from being victimized by any of these criminals, or their criminal families in the future.

what he's doing is disturbing and ask him to stop. Quit wasting what little taxpayer money we have left on your Hearings that will go on until 2008. :sarcasm:

makes one too tired to worry about health care, outsourcing, iraq, crime................

Legislation is either passed or defeated with every Congress and can be changed.

To: Majority Leader Reid. Lets skip the hearings as they NEVER ammount to anything and GO FOR IMPEACHMENT!!!

yep, Dems work all summer and get this sorted.

You know, if this were a movie, I would have walked out of the theatre already.

How many "dunn dunn dunnnn's" does the bad guy get in this story?