The Carpetbagger takes note

[whometense]

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/5807.html

A vote for disclosure
Posted 10:01 am | Printer Friendly

There was a flurry of activity on the Hill yesterday, most notably the breakdown in the House over the budget, but there was one vote that warrants attention and shouldn't get lost in the shuffle. The Senate voted overwhelmingly to push the Pentagon to inform lawmakers about "black sites," the CIA's secret prisons in Europe and elsewhere.

In an 82 to 9 vote yesterday, the Senate approved an amendment to the defense authorization bill by Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) to require Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to disclose to Congress the existence of clandestine terrorism detention facilities in foreign countries. The existence of such facilities was disclosed Nov. 2 by The Washington Post, and the Senate vote suggests Republicans are feeling heat from voters on the way Bush is conducting the war on terrorism.

It's encouraging that the vote was a) clearly one-sided; and b) a slap in the administration's face, but it raises another tangential question: who are the nine members of the Senate who don't want to know about clandestine terrorism detention facilities in foreign countries?

The nine who voted against the measure are Sens. Burr (R-N.C.), Chambliss (R-Ga.), DeMint (R-S.C.), Isakson (R-Ga.), Kyl (R-Ariz.), Martinez (R-Fla.), Sessions (R-Ala.), Stevens (R-Alaska), Vitter (R-La.).

It's hard to understand the position at any level, but I noticed that four of the nine are in their first year in the Senate (Burr, DeMint, Isakson, and Vitter), and two more were elected in 2002 (Chambliss and Martinez). Maybe these six haven't been in the chamber long enough to take some institutional pride in the notion of administrative disclosure. Usually, senators want more information; these guys are effectively asking for less. (The flaw in this, of course, is that it doesn't explain why Sens. Kyl, Sessions, and Stevens would make such a choice.)<...>

I don't know about the others, but I'd be willing to make a wild guess on Stevens...

[rox63]

1. Some of them

are the same ones who voted against McCain's anti-torture amendment. I guess they think torture is just fine and dandy. :puke:

[karynnj]

2. Could the wild guess for Stevens

have anything to do with the highly respectable, responsible, articulate Senator who was the sponsor of this amendment?

[whometense]

3. Yes.

Yes, it definitely could. My guess is that Stevens would rather be strung up by his Hulk tie than vote yes on anything bearing the name John Kerry.

Did you happen to hear his vote? I did. It was loud. And grumpy.

[karynnj]

5. I didn't hear his vote - but I'm not surprised.

I actually wouldn't have been surprised after the ANWR episode if he didn't think of suggesting to the defense department that a certain US Senator should be sent to one of these places.

[MonteLukast]

8. Remember...

that this is the same Ted Stevens that threatens to resign at least once a month if votes don't go his way.

He's almost as much a child as the Shrub. :eyes:

[Island Blue]

4. How embarassing.

One of my "senators" voted agaisnt it. (Burr) What a complete and total asshat. My suggestion is that we take all of these folks to one of the clandestine sites, let them be tourtured and then give them a chance to vote again. I'm :blush: for my state.

[jillan]

6. and of course Kyl. Kyl is the senator that I posted about a couple of

months back that Senator Kerry is working for his opponent.

Kyl is a total bushiter. I hope Arizonans wake up and get him out of there.

[beachmom]

7. But I thought Stevens DID allow Kerry's Truth in Broadcasting bill

out of committee. What's that about? I'm embarrassed to say this, but I kind of like having Stevens around for purely humorous reasons. Jon Stewart had a heyday about that vote that tried to get rid of Stevens' bridge to nowhere and his big "NO!!". And the hulk tie. I tell people these stories, and they think it's pretty funny. Now if the guy's actions didn't affect all of us, he would be a great comic relief . . .

[Mass]

9. A very watered down version, of course

The version Kerry and Lautenberg proposed was too much for him. But at least it is a first step.