Childish Tantrums

Uh oh! Looks like Harry Reid and his pals forgot to take their naps today! No wonder they had a big temper tantrum!

Fox News: Senate Dems Force Rare Closed Session---

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate returned to its daily work late Tuesday after Democrats enacted a rare parliamentary rule forcing a private session of the chamber so senators could speak in secret about the lead-up to the war in Iraq.

As a result of the session, in which Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts and the panel's Ranking Democrat Jay Rockefeller sparred for 40 minutes about whether Republicans had failed in their oversight of the Bush administration, lawmakers set Nov. 14 as a deadline for six members of the Senate — three from each party — to assess the progress of the committee's investigation into pre-Iraq war intelligence.

"Today the American people are going to see a little bit of light. On Nov. 14, we're going to have a phase-by-phase idea of how they are going to complete this (investigation), finally," said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid.

Democrats say the demand for a closed session was prompted by "misinformation and disinformation" given by President Bush (search) and his administration prior to entry into the war in Iraq and a failure of Republicans to look into it.

"If the administration had all the information that they have now back then, they wouldn't even have brought it to the Congress for a vote," Reid said of the Senate's 2002 consent to launch a war against Iraq.
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One senior GOP leadership aide suggested that Democrats took this extraordinary action to divert attention back to the CIA leak after Bush had successfully removed the topic from the headlines with his nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. The aide said Reid's maneuver distracts from Alito because Democrats don't have the votes to oppose the nominee.

"[Reid] is trying to distract from his inability to block the nomination by trying to concoct some conspiracy over intelligence and abusing the Senate rules in the process," the aide said. "He's just trying to stir up some dust."

Durbin said Democrats chose to force a closed session because of the classified nature of the material to be discussed.

"We can't say certain things in public. You can say them in a closed chamber, and that's the reason for it," he said.

But Frist Chief of Staff Eric Ueland told FOX News that no security sweep was performed in the chamber before the session because Democrats weren't going to bring up any classified information.

"They don't have any classified information to bring up. They are just trying to change the subject," he said. Ueland added that contrary to Democratic assertions, Frist's staff was not informed of Reid's plan to demand a closed session. He said only Senate floor staffers were informed. While they fall under the direction of the majority leader's office, they are not technically Frist's staffers.

Just because something is allowed or a rule, does not mean its use is appropriate or well done. The Dems look like whiney crybabies.

Have they forgotten that they received the same intelligence as the President and voted for the same war?

Perhaps they need one of these and a good nap to clear their minds.


Fox News: Fast Facts: Secret Session History
Fox News: Fast Facts: Session Facts and Rules