Monday, November 20, 2006
More Dem factionalism on the way
Not even done putting out the smoke from the Murtha-Hoyer tempest, new House Speaker Nancy Pelosi now faces another divisive fight over who heads the critical House Intelligence Committee---Rep. Jane Harman, the pick of the conservative "Blue Dogs", or Rep. Alcee Hastings, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus who is favored by Pelosi, but someone who, like Murtha, has been “burdened with ethics lapses".
Bet on Harman, an enthusiastic proponent of beefed-up domestic security (Patriot Act refinements), who has spearheaded monstrosities such as the “Intelligence Transformation Act”, to get the nod. The “war on terrorism” continues unabated.
Emerging Democratic Party factionalism between the conservative southern "Blue Dogs" (Republicans in disguise), the centrist pro-business "New Democrats" (right-leaning neoliberals), and the "Progressive Caucus" (headed by Barbara Lee, but polluted by the presence of the hawkish Tom Lantos, the head of the House International Relations Committee, who is not "progressive" at all) appears to be endless. As always, all eyes must remain locked on the agenda of the insidious Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), the Clintons, James Carville and Rahm Emmanuel.
Bet on Harman, an enthusiastic proponent of beefed-up domestic security (Patriot Act refinements), who has spearheaded monstrosities such as the “Intelligence Transformation Act”, to get the nod. The “war on terrorism” continues unabated.
Emerging Democratic Party factionalism between the conservative southern "Blue Dogs" (Republicans in disguise), the centrist pro-business "New Democrats" (right-leaning neoliberals), and the "Progressive Caucus" (headed by Barbara Lee, but polluted by the presence of the hawkish Tom Lantos, the head of the House International Relations Committee, who is not "progressive" at all) appears to be endless. As always, all eyes must remain locked on the agenda of the insidious Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), the Clintons, James Carville and Rahm Emmanuel.
