Looks like he will get the votes:
WASHINGTON General Michael Hayden has the cautious support of Senator Carl Levin in Hayden’s bid to become the nation’s next C-I-A director.
Levin is a Michigan Democrat is a key member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which plans to vote on Hayden’s nomination tomorrow afternoon.
Levin told Detroit radio station W-J-R on Friday, (–quote–) “As of right now, I plan to vote for him.”
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. Even the editors of the NY Times seem in on the game- there is another corporate scandal (YAWN), the Democrats are just as crooked as the GOP in case you don’t know, and, for good measure an old fan favorite from the 90’s, the Clinton’s marriage is a fraud and they don’t really love each other.
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.