Reid Engineers Senate Shutdown

Yesterday, in a premeditated move, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) effectively shut down the US Senate by invoking Senate Rule XXI to close the doors and hustle cameras and spectators out.

The rule covering closed-door sessions is a good one; but in this case, it was a transparent attempt at grandstanding--the talk was about "forcing" a debate on how the Bush administration handled prewar intelligence. Consider these excerpts from Reid's statement on the action:

• "The Libby indictment provides a window into what this is really about: how the Administration manufactured and manipulated intelligence in order to sell the war in Iraq and attempted to destroy those who dared to challenge its actions." Libby was indicted for perjury and obstruction, not for any matter related to national security. Had Patrick Fitzgerald any evidence that Libby or Rove violated the 1982 Intelligence Identities Act, don't you think he would have used it?
  
• "As a result of its improper conduct, a cloud now hangs over this Administration. This cloud is further darkened by the Administration’s mistakes in prisoner abuse scandal, Hurricane Katrina, and the cronyism and corruption in numerous agencies." That's right, get it all out. You'll feel better. Nice to have focus, isn't it?
  
• "The Administration’s assertions on this [WMD] score have been totally discredited. But again, the Administration went ahead with these assertions in spite of the fact that the government’s top experts did not agree with these claims." I guess these must be "top" people other than CIA Director George Tenet, who famously told Bush the case was a "slam dunk."
  
• "Despite the fact that the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee publicly committed to examine many of these questions more than 1 and ½ years ago, he has chosen not to keep this commitment. Despite the fact that he restated that commitment earlier this year on national television, he has still done nothing." Senator Pat Roberts, the aforementioned chairman, presented preliminary findings to the Senate Intelligence Committee on 17 May 2005, but the debate was scotched by Democrats.

If it turns out that this action hastens the release of the Committee's "Phase II" report on prewar intelligence, then that's no bad thing. But this move by Reid just did not seem like the last-ditch effort of a well-intentioned statesman to get his voice heard--it seemed like a trained politician trying to manipulate the news cycle to his benefit. It's an old game, played by officials on both sides, but isn't it coming on a little strong to close the Senate in order to get this done?

(The image above is a William Gropper lithograph entitled "Politicos." Based on his subject matter, I think Gropper would hate this site; but I admit I admire the piece.)

Tags: Harry Reid, Senate, Politics