While I admit I can't match the thrill of Andy's Incredible Vomiting Dogs, I was curious what people here think about the race for Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. This is a top-secret, crucial committee, and with Democrats in control there is a bit of a scuffle going on for the chairmanship.
Read below the fold...
Again, I apologize for the lack of dog vomit, but just read.
Nancy Pelosi decided she doesn't want the chairmanship to go to Rep. Jane Harman, D-California, who was first in line. Harman, though from the liberal-leaning South Bay of Los Angeles, has a conservative streak on national security issues, and Pelosi didn't approve of her handling of the wiretapping debate.
So the battle for chair of this highly sensitive committee is between Alcee Hastings of Florida and Silvestre Reyes of Texas. For obvious reasons, the Black Caucus is pushing Hastings and the Hispanic Caucus is pushing Reyes.
A little history: Hastings has represented Florida's 23rd District since 1992. He is a fiery liberal in a very liberal district, and has served his constituents well. But from 1979 to 1989 he was a federal judge, and he left the justice system not to retire, but because Congress IMPEACHED him in 1989 for criminal offenses, namely bribery. Hastings has never been accused of anything since, but just the history of this would make a Hastings chairmanship a very bad idea on a P.R. level, even if he has kept his nose clean in Congress.
Reyes has represented El Paso since 1996, and has had a pretty agreeable record: he is widely perceived as a centrist, and he lacks Hastings' history of scandal.
Hastings would probably be a more aggressive chairman of this committee. Reyes is more low-profile and would probably agree to things some Kossacks wouldn't. But if Pelosi is serious about maintaining a clean operation, she should want to avoid even the appearance or question of corruption.
I'll leave you to your dogs.