Democratic Weakness Confirmed

By Glenn Greenwald, AlterNet. Posted May 24, 2006.

Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee yesterday essentially assured that President Bush's nominee to head the CIA, Gen. Michael Hayden, would not only be confirmed by the full Senate, but confirmed overwhelmingly. That's because a majority of the Democratic Committee members (along with, needless to say, all of the Committee Republicans) voted in favor of confirming Gen. Hayden:

The Senate Intelligence Committee strongly endorsed Gen. Michael V. Hayden on Tuesday to be the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency, with all but three members, all Democrats, voting to send Gen. Hayden's nomination to the Senate floor.

The panel's 12 to 3 vote virtually guarantees that Gen. Hayden will win confirmation by the full Senate, which is likely to vote on his selection before the end of the week.

Four committee Democrats joined all eight Republican members in endorsing the general. Sen. Pat Roberts, a Republican from Kansas and the panel's chairman, called Gen. Hayden "a proven leader and a supremely qualified intelligence professional."

The committee's vice chairman, John D. Rockefeller IV, a Democrat from West Virginia, said Gen. Hayden had shown "the necessary independence that is essential to restoring the CIA's credibility and stature."

Given the similarities, it sounds like Pat Roberts and John Rockefeller drafted their statements together, which is nice. Four Democrats -- Feinstein, Rockefeller, Levin and Mikulski -- voted for Hayden and then praised him lavishly. Three Democrats -- Feingold, Wyden and Bayh -- voted against him.

Although it's hardly surprising, this result is still rather extraordinary. Gen. Hayden ought to have been seen as the most defiant and inflammatory person possible for the president to have nominated. He was, after all, the director of the NSA at the time it implemented its illegal warrantless eavesdropping program, as well as its massive data-collection schemes, and he is a True Believer in the theories of presidential power that hold that the president has the right to violate the law. And he wasn't nominated to be the agriculture secretary, but the director of the CIA -- probably the very worst position you would want someone to occupy with that history of surveillance lawbreaking and system of beliefs regarding the rule of law.

But no matter. Thanks to the generous and always-accommodating Senate Democrats, this nomination will be trouble-free for the president. This series of events led John Cole yesterday to make this insightful observation:

While I miss not spending as much time reading blogs, writing as many posts, and commenting on other blogs, stepping back from it all has allowed for some clarity regarding the current political system. When I was immersed in blogs, I felt that the Democrats were having some success blocking the current administration, but when I look back, I was just fooled by the current game. The Hayden nomination is a perfect example.

When he was nominated, a few people had fits, a chorus of echoes emerged and then there appeared to be a popular effort to block his nomination. And then time went by, and now it looks increasingly like he will be confirmed, as everyone has moved on to something else -- "Look, a Rabbit!" -- as everyone gets all worked up about the FBI raiding Rep. Jefferson's office or whatever the issue du jour might be.

And if you look back on things, that is how it has been since the beginning of this administration -- they do what they want, Democrats throw up an opposition that is of varying degrees of tepidness (did I just make that word up?), a few "maverick" Republicans cross lines (briefly), and then the administration gets what they want.

Rinse and Repeat. … In short, while immersed in the blogosphere, you get the feeling that the political climate is changing, but if you step back and look at the big picture, it looks much more like the SSDD.

It is very hard to argue with that. There were already ample grounds for attacking the Hayden nomination when it was announced, and then, right in the middle of it, an all-new, highly controversial, likely illegal NSA program was revealed for which he was responsible. But that was barely a speed bump in the harmonious, smooth sailing of his confirmation.

For all the talk of the weakened and impotent presidency and the split among Republicans, it is still virtually always the case that the president gets what he wants and without much difficulty. The few times he fails -- Harriet Miers, the Dubai Port deal, anti-torture legislation -- is because Republicans, not Democrats, take a stand against the White House.

But by and large, what happened yesterday with Gen. Hayden's nomination is exactly what would have happened in 2002 and 2003. Democrats are afraid to challenge the president due to their fear -- always due to their fear -- that they will be depicted as mean, obstructionist and weak on national security. And so, even with an unbelievably weakened president, and even with regard to the most consequential issues -- and can one doubt that installing Gen. Hayden as CIA director is consequential? -- Democrats back away from fights, take no clear position, divide against each other and stand up for exactly nothing.

Glenn Greenwald is a constitutional law attorney and chief blogger at Unclaimed Territory. His forthcoming book, "How Would a Patriot Act: Defending American Values from a President Run Amok" will be released by Working Assets Publishing next month.