The Real Scandal is the Democratic Memos on Judges (WSJ on MemoGate II)

The WSJ ^ | Thursday, January 29, 2004 | REVIEW & OUTLOOK STAFF

[jmstein7]

A man from the U.S. Senate's Sergeant-at-Arms Office called this week, asking us to give up the name of one of our sources. A formal probe is under way to discover how last November we got our hands on Democratic strategy memos on how to defeat President Bush's judicial nominees. We politely told the gentleman to take a hike.

[mewzilla]

Why are Senate Republican leaders, specifically Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch and Majority Leader Bill Frist, cooperating with this vindictive little inquisition against their own employees?

Because they know it was a Dem staffer who did it?

[grobdriver]

Bravo, WSJ!
This kind of stuff really pi$$es me off about the Republican leadership

[Ron in Acreage]

Hatch and Frist are spineless wimps. This does not surprise me one bit.

[Taliesan]

Orrin Hatch has always had a noodle for a backbone.

[livius]

This internal Senate show trial wouldn't even be taking place without the approval of Senators Hatch and Frist, who are showing more tenacity investigating their own staff than they are trying to get judges past obstructionist Democrats.

Excellent sentence in an excellent piece.

I hope you're right, mewzilla, but maybe that's crediting the Pubbies in the Senate with more awareness and intestinal fortitude than they seem to have revealed so far.

[NutmegDevil]

From a previous post: "An array of high-profile Americans -- including Rev. Jesse Jackson, feminist Gloria Steinem, Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic, leaders of the ACLU and the Newspaper Guild, and artists such as Sean Penn, Bonnie Raitt and Martin Sheen -- released a joint statement Thursday (Jan. 29) in support of Katharine Gun, a British whistleblower." And that true patriot, Daniel Ellsberg, is deeply involved in the effort.

Why aren't these same folks also out there protecting a whistle blower closer to home? Are they protectors of whistle blowers or are they left-wing ideologues. Hmmmm, I wonder.

[yoe]

Start Freeping.............

(e-mail Hatch)

Fill out the form and put in your comments...this RINO Republican Hatch needs to know that the 'leaker' is not the person to go after - go after those that wrote the memo and Mr. Rockefeller who is doing nothing about it. Do the same for Frist...MemoGate must not be swept under the rug, it was and is a crime to use that venue for political reasons.

[jonno]

bump

[Elkiejg]

Sent this WSJ article to both Hatch and Frist with the subject SHAME ON YOU -- and that we voters WOULD remember their caving to the RATS.

[Cicero]

Humm. EXACTLY what I said about this yesterday.

If the Democrats were in charge in the senate, you would NEVER see a witch hunt like this.

The point is, even though this witch hunt may eventually exonerate the Republicans, it throws the emphasis on their putative guilt and allows the left-wing press to write article after article condemning their partisanship, while the real, substantive issue of Democrat partisanship and lies is completely ignored.

Sure, the Republicans may be vindicated, but not until after they have been dragged through the mud through the entire election year by a vindictive and partisan press.

Political idiocy to let this happen.

[diotima]

Meanwhile, the Sergeant-at-Arms probe is into its third month and appears to be focusing on a luckless staffer who denies doing anything wrong. Judging from the questions our caller asked, the preferred scapegoat is Manuel Miranda, a lawyer who works for Mr. Frist and formerly worked for Mr. Hatch. Mr. Miranda has been put on leave and we keep hearing he is in danger of losing his job.

Disgusting.

[mewzilla]

Well, keep in mind the memo, the other memo, that was leaked to Hannity. Hannity said we'd be surprised by the ID of the leaker. To my mind that means that there's at least one member of the loyal opposition running around :)

[yoe]

Please call these spineless Senators this morning and pass their telephone numbers on to all on your lists to do the same. Thanks. Senator Frist's DC office - (202) 224-3344

Hatch's DC office: DC 20510 Tel: (202) 224-5251 Fax: (202) 224-6331

[yoe]

jmstein, I posted some phone numbers this morning for Frist and Hatch. I just called the Frist DC number and got his office in TENN. A very nice man by the name of Evan answered the phone and sent me to some other person who cheerfully said "just a minute please" and the next thing was the operator saying "if I wished to make a call, please hang up........." you know the rest. I then called back and that is when Evan let me know I was talking to Frist's TENN office. He somewhat reluctantly took my message.

I hope everyone will try to get hold of Frist and let him know that we are disgusted with what he did to his employee, Manuel Miranda, to reinstate that person and go after the persons who wrote the Memo in the first place.

[ought-six]

Both Hatch and Frist are huge disappointments. I want to see Rick Santorum take over the Republican senate leadership.

[talleyman]

Freeped, but it won't do any good. We need to get some leaders who didn't graduate from Surrender Academy.

[Kryptonite]

First they hang GWB's nominees out to twist in the wind, and now this? Better get a bucket .. . .

[alloysteel]

Part of the problem is that the Republicans are treating this "memo capture" more like a criminal case, trying to avoid being branded as simple burglars, when they should be trumpeting it as a political ploy by the Democrats. The Democrats had no intention, whatsoever, of volunteering the memo as evidence of their involvement in thwarting the serious business of government.

But if this WERE a criminal case, it should be directed at the Democrat minority on the committee, not at the hapless staffer who revealed its existence in the first place. The tactics discussed in the memo have no place in honest government. The Democrats have ceased to believe in honest legislative policy, and have chosen to use intimidation and chicanery as their primary weapons in attempting to impose their agenda. Worse, by puffing up, and displaying indignant behavior, the Democrats attempt to shame others into believing THEY are the victims.

Legalistic is not the same as legal.