I no longer understand who or what the Democrats think they stand for.
Having read yesterday the President's assertion that members of the House and Senate Intelligence Cttes were briefed on the NSA surveillance program; I called around today to determine its validity.
A receptionist in Rockefeller's office said "yes" unequivocally when I asked him if the Senate Ctte. had been briefed on these activities. Responses from others were less helpful.
An aide in Levin's office said he didn't know. When I called Evan Bayh's office, the receptionist told me repeatedly to call my senators here in New York and said that no one could tell whether he knew or not of the program. When asked why he, if unaware of the program, wasn't trying to set the record straight since it constituted a gross violation of civil liberties; she hung up on me.
Next, I called Mikulski's office. Was the Intelligence Ctte. briefed on the program? They didn't know. Were they aware that Sen. Rockefeller's office was telling the public that the Ctte. had been briefed? They couldn't discuss this because it was a national security issue.
An aide in Corzine's office said he didn't know whether his guy had been briefed and when given the Rockefeller line, said Corzine hadn't decided what he was going to do about it all. Huh?
I wasn't able to reach other Ctte. members and never got to the House. Maybe someone else had better luck with them.