Thursday, July 13, 2006
What a Difference A Week Makes...
On Tuesday, Sue appeared to be very, very concerned about not being briefed about a Bush administration program that tracks financial transactions worldwide. After all, she's chair of the House Financial Services subcommittee that theoretically, at least, oversees exactly this sort of thing.
Said Sue: "Many in Congress who should have been briefed by this administration were not. What else is it that we don't know?". What indeed! As Rep. Barney Frank pointed out neither he nor Sue would have been briefed about this program at all if the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times hadn't been preparing stories on it.
Of course, the hearing on Tuesday was particularly surprising given that only a week earlier, Sue voted to condemn media leaks of what Republican leaders said was classified information -- the very same information Sue appeared to be upset over not knowing about on Tuesday. The pre-vote debate gave Republican hacks a chance to appeal to their conservative base by chastising the New York Times.
What changed from one week to the next? Perhaps Sue got a poll that showed that bashing the New York Times in its own backyard may play well in rural Alabama or other Conservative strongholds, but not in NY-19. How else to explain the sudden about-face?
So, she shuffles a few papers on national TV and makes it look like she's challenging the Bush administration. That might make great theater, but we're betting that people in the district see Sue for the hardcore conservative lackey that she really is.
Said Sue: "Many in Congress who should have been briefed by this administration were not. What else is it that we don't know?". What indeed! As Rep. Barney Frank pointed out neither he nor Sue would have been briefed about this program at all if the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times hadn't been preparing stories on it.
Of course, the hearing on Tuesday was particularly surprising given that only a week earlier, Sue voted to condemn media leaks of what Republican leaders said was classified information -- the very same information Sue appeared to be upset over not knowing about on Tuesday. The pre-vote debate gave Republican hacks a chance to appeal to their conservative base by chastising the New York Times.
What changed from one week to the next? Perhaps Sue got a poll that showed that bashing the New York Times in its own backyard may play well in rural Alabama or other Conservative strongholds, but not in NY-19. How else to explain the sudden about-face?
So, she shuffles a few papers on national TV and makes it look like she's challenging the Bush administration. That might make great theater, but we're betting that people in the district see Sue for the hardcore conservative lackey that she really is.
