Did anyone else get the impression that the hearing today was

a load of BS?

I sure did. I watched the whole thing. Both sessions. All it amounted to was a bunch of editorializing and pontificating from both sides of the isle. With the exception of Levin, Kennedy, Byrd, and McCain no one seemed to ask any questions that were of any consequence. Most bloviated ad nauseum about nothing in particular and interspersed their pointless harangues with "thank you for deigning to speak to us's" and "respectfully sirs" etc. etc.

Why when these dorks are given the latitude to ask pertinent questions of a witness UNDER OATH do they waste time with inanity? What the hell is wrong with this picture?

It seems this little "hearing" skirted around the very uncomfortable reality that most of those questioning the witnesses gave Heir Rumsfelds Fuhrer carte blanche to behave as he has historically behaved. Now faced with the fruits of their spineless acquiescence they seem unwilling to expose the very dangerous situation that acquiescence has brought about.

Who is ultimately responsible for what happened in Abu Ghraib? The assholes who abrogated their constitutional responsibilities...and handed the reigns of the country over to a corporate sponsored madman and his squad of goons. The rather sick look on Clinton's face this afternoon made effusively clear, that fact.

I wonder if any of them will grow a spine and face up to their own responsibility. Lacking that, they will accomplish nothing.

If I were an Iraqi...and I saw what I saw today...I'd be REAL pissed off. It was nothing more than a circle jerk designed to mollify those who have no clue as to what is really going on. Namely the vast majority of the American electorate. I think we can assume that those parts of the world that receive real news...or those parts of the world that have suffered our torturers, will be far from mollified. Quite the opposite in fact.

It's so pleasant to see our Senators and Congress people feel this is the time to campaign. Jesus Christ...don't they understand that getting to the bottom of this is critical? We have a world of potential terrorists watching our every move right now and our representatives are playing silly little self serving games. What's it gonna take for our leaders to behave responsibly on both sides of the isle? Another 9/11? I should think one of those days would have been enough.

RC

When will holding these madmens asses to the flames not be premature? It was premature when they started beating the drums for war. It was premature when they lied in front of the UN. It was premature when no weapons of mass destruction were found. Now it's premature when it's exposed that the new management of Abu Ghraib are kinder gentler tortures?

Sorry my friend but a fire department that stands around and watches your house burn down before they hook the hoses up to the fire hydrants ain't doing anyone much good.

RC

played and replayed as more information comes out. No matter how bad it gets they will say they have already apologized and just move on.
Like Pilate washing his hands!

when it's your turn at the diving board. You don't sit on the end like a little pimp, dangle your toe in the water and slide off the board on your bottom.

When you're handed the mic you make use of it. You gotta make some noise that's a more marketable sound bight than bush apoligizing to the king of the country next to Iraq.

RC

why false charges against a muslim chaplin were leaked to the media by the pentagon and true charges of torture weren't.

I am tired from watching all day, but there were more moments

Some of them would not make sense if you have no idea how the miliary acts, but the demeanor by Rummy and his officers was that of a man who was actually put on the docket... there were moments that I went, wow they really have him. The loveliest part, whne he said he was having a dickens of a time hearing.

Look folks will know in the next 72 hours but he is now officially damanged goods

was watching her sit there with her hand in her head while Rumsfeld didn't answer the question. She's a frigging ivy league lawyer for crying out loud! Why sit there and listen to bullshit? Why didn't she spend her entire five minutes interrupting the asshole every time he failed to answer the question?

One can ask all the brilliant questions one wants....If one does not insist on an answer....not a reply....then the question might as well have been a gaseous expulsion from yesterdays dinner.

Sadly, one of the only Senators that took the proper tack was McCain. He pounded Rumsfeld with the same question and insisted he answer it. He did so until it was clearly obvious that Rumsfeld was obfuscating. That is the manner in which one questions a hostile witness....of which Rumsfeld certainly is.

RC

more questions than it answered. Let's see if they pursue it.

and that it would seem was the point. They know damn well the vast majority of Americans attention span is about 15 minutes....so they mentally masterbate people for 4 hours and 45 minutes longer than that...you know just to put the last hold outs to sleep. Everyone get's board and turns on the knewest rerun of freinds or just switches off the box in disappointment feeling the same anti-climax they felt after Rice "testified". And for the next two week we're treated to talking heads telling us what so and so really meant in case there was any doubt that they didn't really mean anything at all.

Mission accomplished. Another well handled public mollification. All will be forgotten when Joey's new show airs!

RC

That's what it was.
Now watch: anyone who wants to dig deeper will be accused (by Congressional colleagues and all the Rush/Hannities/O'Reillys of the world) of "dragging our soldiers' brave contribution through the mud!

It's the 'blame America first crowd' again!

See, one day of blowhard testimony/fiegned apology is enough!

It was alot of hot-air.

Is it any wonder Congress curled up in the fetal position when push came to shove in carrying out their duty to hold this administration accountable?

From knuckling under to the Patriot Act to abrogating their responsiblity to declare war to the Executive Branch. What a bunch of numbskull idiots.

To hell with all of them.

He thought there was alot of posturing for/against the Secretary and there weren't many senators who seemed interested in getting to the bottom of this.

Gergen mentioned some of the speeches as odd. I took the little conservation as a dig at republicans because so many of them had to sing their praises of Iraq and the dummy's leadership and didn't want to ask tough questions.

and how he managed HIS people....Blah Blah Blah .... I thought Rummy would bust out laughing ...

members of the house as a bunch of mouth breathing, knuckle dragging sub-human trailor trash. It appeared for a moment he would. The condescending smirk on his face was priceless and his cutting little "well thank you sir for your very brave service to your country" quip was an obvious slap in the blowhard idiots face.

He bullied the black kid....I can't remember where he was from....and the kid responded with a bit of ass kissing. That was followed with the looking at his watch routine....which the kid ignored.

RC

When will one of them say...."Yea your damn right my questions are partisan...so the hell what? In case you haven't noticed it's Republicans who're running the show! You exclude us from pivotal policy meetings, you lie to us and the UN, you suggest you are above following the Geneva convention and when our troops follow your lead and put our nation and themselves in grave danger you disingenuously whine and cry crocodile tears! Yea I'm Partisan I'm a partisan for the American people...and I'm gonna do everything in my power to smash the parasitic corporatocracy you have created into dust. You think I've been partisan so far? Stand by, you ain't seen the half of it."

RC

I especially like this "Yea I'm Partisan I'm a partisan for the American people...and I'm gonna do everything in my power to smash the parasitic corporatocracy you have created into dust. You think I've been partisan so far? Stand by, you ain't seen the half of it."

Wow, for a monet that almost sounded like Howard Dean!

and I just gotta get it out!!!! :)

Frankly I think that all the "statesmenshit" leaves the vast majority of the american public scratching their asses and yawning. Bush is proof of that....everyones bar room pal. The dolt on the last stool with the folksy drawl, the tough guy mouth and the tough guy swagger. Give the public 15 minutes of his phony cowpoke routine and they're out waving flags around, sending their kids off to die.

The "folks" need to see a little down home ass chewin....and they ain't getting it. Pennsylvania Cowboy George and his oily pose have made quite clear they have no respect for diplomacy....so it seems to me it's about time we givem a boot in the ass they'll have a hard time smirking through.

RC

I hopefully forgot what Senate and House public hearings are about. A bunch of grandstanding and mostly poor questions.

I quit watching after about an hour or so, feeling that this entire issue will never thoroughly be investigated.

Leave it to the military? No. Yet another independent commission is needed to get to the truth.

That would be quite an interesting moment.

98% of congresscritters want to get back to the task of successfully stealing Iraq's oil.

This diversion is troubling to them. They are very upset that pictures of the actions of the United States military in action are available for public view.

You can be sure that no more pictures of what the troops do will be allowed to fall into the public's hands.

I know as I was watching, I actually said "I now know why it's said Senators are always considered the statesmen, never the Representatives."

I don't mean to say that all the Senators acted like statesmen today, but they sure did a heck of a lot better job than any of the House members.

Just look at the original posters remarks. The only ones mentioned were all Senators.

Dan shame. Aren't these people elected to the House supposed to do a job too?

Every senator only had 15 minutes. Rumsfelf brought along every general in the army to deflect the questions. He never really answered them, and if he started to, Warner cuts him off with "Times up." It was a complete sham.

Jeez, when congress was investigating why Clinton pardoned Mark Rich, they held a three-ring circus that lasted for days.

In the end, by not resolving the scandal, they will only make it worse. They still think it will blow away.

RC.