I hadn't planned on expending another diary on this, but I think it's an important enough issue to re-examine.
While driving into work this morning I heard on NPR that Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi does indeed seem to be leaning toward Rep. Alcee Hastings to head the House Intelligence Committee. A Google News search on this topic turned up several articles, the first of which (well, technically second, but I don't count Fox as "news") is here.
If this is true -- pay attention to the word "IF" before you send angry replies -- it is a monumentally bad move on Pelosi's part. And if (there's that word again) it is true, then it is evidence that she may not be the leader that we, or at least I, was expecting.
Look, the Murtha thing was a mistake. Defend it as support for a friend, or however you like. The fact remains that Pelosi made strenuous efforts to push Murtha as majority leader, and failed to get him elected in a very public episode. You can say the media made too much of it, and that would be true. But that doesn't excuse Pelosi gambling and losing in such a public way. She has to know the press is watching, and that they're hardly inclined to fair. That's the reality we live in, and she acts as if she doesn't realize it.
And now the Hastings thing. I hope -- I fervently hope -- that this is just buzz that comes to nothing. Because if it turns out to be true it casts Pelosi's judgment into question.
As everyone knows, Hastings was impeached and removed from his office as a federal judge after accusations of bribery. His defenders are quick to point out that he was acquitted at trial, and that's true. But he was acquitted because his co-conspirator, William Borders, refused to testify, not because Hastings was able to prove his innocence. "Not guilty" doesn't mean "didn't do it," it just means "couldn't prove it."
The next line of defense the pro-Hastings crowd uses is, "It was a political vendetta, like Bill Clinton's impeachment." Doesn't fly. First of all, the House voted to impeach Hastings by a margin of 413-3. Those aren't "vendetta" numbers. And the notion that the United States Congress had a political vendetta against a relatively obscure federal court judge in Florida just doesn't ring true to me. And, oh yeah, it was a Democratic House that voted to impeach him. Among the members who voted to do so were John Conyers and Charlie Rangel. Nancy Pelosi too, for that matter.
Alcee Hastings is an anchor around Nancy Pelosi's neck right now. She needs to cut him loose. If she doesn't like Jane Harman that's fine -- I'm not exactly a fan myself. There are other choices, as many on this very forum have pointed out. The Speaker-elect needs to pick one of them.
What happened to ethics reform? If these stories are true, and she picks Hastings, Pelosi can kiss her credibility on that issue goodbye.