Nancy Pelosi’s antipathy to the elevation of Rep. Jane Harman – a ranking member of of the House Intelligence Committee – to the chair of that committee in 2006 makes more sense in the light of this story:
Rep. Jane Harman , the California Democrat with a longtime involvement in intelligence issues, was overheard on an NSA wiretap telling a suspected Israeli agent that she would lobby the Justice Department to reduce espionage-related charges against two officials of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, the most powerful pro-Israel organization in Washington.
Harman was recorded saying she would “waddle into” the AIPAC case “if you think it’ll make a difference,” according to two former senior national security officials familiar with the NSA transcript.
In exchange for Harman’s help, the sources said, the suspected Israeli agent pledged to help lobby Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif., then-House minority leader, to appoint Harman chair of the Intelligence Committee after the 2006 elections, which the Democrats were heavily favored to win.
Seemingly wary of what she had just agreed to, according to an official who read the NSA transcript, Harman hung up after saying, “This conversation doesn’t exist.”
Except that, apparently, it does.
Oops.
The plot gets thicker, with former Bush administration AG Alberto Gonzales apparently quashing the probe of Harman’s conversation to secure her support for the warrantless wiretapping program that the New York Times was preparing to break.
Pelosi, Boxer, Feinstein, Harman—California sends four very rich women to Congress–each of whom seems to possess a preternatural ability to screw things up. I was driving in the San Ferndando Valley a couple of days ago and went by the Harman International Business Campus–a rather grand name–but then it’s a rather grand set of buildings. Mrs. Harman is the wife of the Harman in the Harman-Kardon electronics empire–and Mr. Harman has branched into many other businesses. Heckfire as far as I know he or some of his companies do electronic defense contracting work.
No California female politician ever lost an election by overestimating the intelligence of the California voter. A pox on them all.
And she is still a member of the Intelligence Committee because….?
Obviously it takes little intelligence to be chair of the Intelleigence Committee (sorry, I couldn’t resist).
Jane Harman has a Harvard degree and may be the smartest and most knowledgeable AND most bi-partisan member of the House Intell Cte. She was in line for the Chair job in ’06.
But Nancy Pelosi HATES Jane Harman with a mortal passion, as JH has about fifty IQ points & the Harvard degree on Nancy, who is a mere vengeful second-rate political hack. Instead of Harman in ’06, Nancy made sure we got an ESL Texas double-digit IQ dude who didn’t know the difference between Sunnis and Shi’ites as Cte Chair of Intelligence.
Which is oddly appropriate, given the lack of priority the Dems give actual facts & on-the-ground reality in foreign policy affairs! For the Dems, it’s all kissing up to Chavez and Raul Castro & listening submissively to Ortega lying about the US.
Not to mention Nancy’s trip to Damascus to get instructions from Bashir Assad as an intermediary of Ahmadinnerjacket who told Nan how Iran wants US foreign policy to go in the Middle East. Nan wore her scarf and dutifully came back & is following instructions, one of which is to get rid of Jane H.
And Jane rubbed Nan’s nose in it when Jane attended the inaugural kick-off of a new bi-partisan Think Tank, one of whose members was Robert Kagan, which the left smears as a ne0-con, but foreign policy types know as a thoughtful analyst of America’s role in the world post-Iraq.
A mortal sin to devout pro-choice Catholic Nan!!
I don’t know nothing about this case, but I do know this–whoever leaked or confirmed that such an intercept was collected should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Prudence forbids me spelling out exactly why, but y’all are a pretty smart audience so I’ll leave it to you to figure out.
“I don’t know nothing…”
Zane, I didn’t know your REAL name was Sgt. Schultz!
Sorry about the grammar. Should have read:
I don’t know no nothing about this case.
Inexcusable, really. Except I found the liquor cabinet.
Zane/ Psst, you shudda kept quiet, I thought you were riffing on Sgt Schultz!
Little did I know you had found the liquor cabinet! LOL!
First, second, or third floor?
Ain’t telling.
Y’all might have found he cabinet but I found the key…
Happy Hour begins right about…..now.
Well, OLDT6, it may be only 3:32 PCT out here, but the sun is always over the yardarm SOMEWHERE in this world–so, I’ll drink to that!
PS to OLDT6/
You know how almost every day of the year is National “something or other” Day? You know, pickle, tire-recapping, you name it. Years ago, before PC pressure forced them to stop, the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate (they’ve since dropped the “morning”) used to have a small outlined box on their op-ed page called: “I’ll Drink To That!” with the day’s excuse quoted underneath, e.g. Nat. Pickle day, etc. LOL! An “official” excuse to drink EVERY DAY!
(Small wonder the PC police went crazy in the mid-80s-early 90s when all that crap got started. I imagine too, that legal counsel advised that sooner or later, the way society was/is going, they were going to be sued by some DUI victims, perpetrator–or both–for “encouraging” risky behavior.)
Mores the pity at the discontinuing of the practice/tradition. I USED to have a ready-made excuse when my wife complained that I was face down (ahem, amend that to a more dignified “deep in my cups”)
instead of out-side raking leaves. (heh)
Virgil-Work is the curse of the drinking class.