If you thought Nancy Pelosi’s boastful “People said, ‘You can’t beat something with nothing,’ “ was the low point of abdicating responsibility, consider this from Meet the Press yesterday, as reported by the Washington Post.
[Rep. Jane] Harman said the briefings she received concerned “the operational
details of the program,” which she supported. “However,” she added,
“the briefings were not about the legal underpinnings of the program.”
Translation: “All I talked about with Mr. Abramoff was how much
money he would contribute and how I would vote. He never mentioned
anything about ethics rules or the law. Why would I question it.”
She said it was not until Bush publicly spoke about the program, after
it was revealed in the New York Times in December, that she was free to
discuss it with House staff and constitutional lawyers.
Translation: Once I learned that it was a big deal, I asked why it was a big deal.”
[Former Sen. Tom] Daschle said he wants the program to continue but maintained that the
warrantless wiretapping of calls that came into the United States or
calls made overseas, even those involving suspected terrorist sources,
violate the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
Translation: “You can take the man out of the Senate, but you can’t take the Senate out of the man.”
