The YK Salon interview with Harry Reid is a right tasty one:
"In the course of 20 minutes, he discussed the effect blogs have had on Washington; argued that Dick Cheney is single-handedly running the entire intelligence community; described his personal relationship -- or lack thereof -- with George W. Bush; and defended his decision to endorse Lieberman over his Democratic primary challenger, blogger favorite Ned Lamont. "
Others can mine the other nuggets; The most fascinating vein for me is his recognition and unveiling the truth we've long suspected but are just now are getting public recognition. As Reid puts it:
"... I think we've come to learn that the intelligence community in America is run by one person -- one person -- and that's the vice president."
Jump down for more...
http://www.salon.com/...
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But I think we've come to learn that the intelligence community in America is run by one person -- one person -- and that's the vice president. [Sen. Pat] Roberts, who is the supposed chair of that committee -- I shouldn't say "supposed chair"; he is the chair -- he can't do anything without [Dick Cheney].
Let me give you an example. Jay Rockefeller had surgery, and it turned out a lot worse than we expected. It was spinal surgery, so he could not do his job. He had to stay home. We had worked and struggled to have a three-member Democratic oversight committee to oversee NSA stuff. They could review everything. That was the deal that was made -- Rockefeller, Levin and [Dianne] Feinstein. Rockefeller can't be there, so I talk to [Senate Majority Leader Bill] Frist, and I say, "What we need to do is have somebody replace, at least on a temporary basis, and the fourth person in seniority is [Oregon Sen.] Ron Wyden."
So Frist, he doesn't do anything. After a couple of days, he says, "Talk to Pat Roberts, talk to Pat Roberts." And a day or two later, Pat Roberts says, "The vice president doesn't want me to do that."
Everything is run through the vice president -- everything.
This startling statement is even more startling considering its source: the mild mannered Harry
Reid! It seems evident to me that Reid has suffered tremendously to have reached this point of frustration. He continues...
We saw some of that last week, when Arlen Specter went public about Cheney's efforts to block him from having the telephone companies testify on the NSA database program before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Yeah, everything.
What kind of pressure does Cheney exert on these guys?
I don't know. A phone call? I don't know what he does.
But what's the threat?
I guess he won't like them anymore. Maybe he'll use, like he did with Leahy, the F-word. I don't know.
Whatever it is, they ultimately buckle under. Specter talks a good game, but --
It's not "ultimately." Specter is the only one who's given an ostensible reaction, negatively [to the NSA program]. But that didn't last. He caved in like soft cake, you know.
Do you think there will come a time when the Republicans in the Senate see Bush's approval ratings for what they are and really start to stand up to him?
I don't know. Cheney has such a grasp on them, I don't think it will happen until these guys leave.
Reid finishes by saying he doesn't want Cheney further empowered by impeaching Bush. But Harry, there's an obvious solution to that: start impeachment with Tricky Dicky!