Only 47 Senators Attend Critical INTEL Briefing!

Small Image of the day!

    

Not for a vote, but very much half full for critical briefing!

The US Constitution was carefully crafted with two Chambers of Congress. The Senate has a representation census that includes 100 senators; two per State. The House  is composed of 435 representatives from districts within their States.

How can over half the Senate completely ignore opportunity for private briefings on a critical matter of State?  We have members of Congress going on camera and stumbling through comments about not being briefed on, or have no knowledge, of a critical communications monitoring program. Could  the members of Congress have passed on opportunity for information? 

The United States has been thrust into a sensitive issue regarding communications monitoring as a strategy in combating terrorist attacks.  We posit the thrust was perpetrated by an opportunist journalist (We suspect seeking notoriety, book deals and possibly a Pulitzer) and a defector. Regardless of your thoughts on hero or defector, Snowden may have released operational secrets to countries which are unequivocally “non-friendly”.  There are many who avoid the fact of his security violations to facilitate their  personal need to strike out at President Obama. That is a very sad reality, as they throw stones at the White House while a defector gives operational leverage to possible enemies with  nation killing weaponry and other enemies which are sponsors of terror.  Is that not akin to the fish that east the minnow (fish) and is in turn eaten by the next large fish with a mouth large enough to consume it? 

Huffington Post is reporting that over half the members of the US Senate skipped a critical INTEL briefing.

Huff Post

This was the third classified briefing in a week on the NSA surveillance programs, according to Politic 

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, was frustrated by the lack of attendance, according to The Hill: 

“It’s hard to get this story out. Even now we have this big briefing — we’ve got Alexander, we’ve got the FBI, we’ve got the Justice Department, we have the FISA Court there, we have Clapper there — and people are leaving,” she said. 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev). made a point of recessing the Senate for an hour on Thursday, saying it was so no one would have an excuse for missing the briefing. On Tuesday, Reid criticized lawmakers who claim they had not been briefed on the NSA’s surveillance programs, saying it’s their own fault if they didn’t know. 

“For senators to complain that, ‘I didn’t know this was happening,’ we’ve had many, many meetings that have been both classified and unclassified that members have been invited to,” Reid told reporters.

The exodus of colleagues exasperated Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who spent a grueling week answering colleagues’ and media questions about the program.

Frankly, the senators are clearly showing they are not in Washington DC for purpose of national governance.  While trailing an ailing economy and a deteriorating social climate, the NSA monitoring follows very closely as a current critical issue.  

Confidence in Congress at 10%

Albert Einstein

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Albert Einstein 

Huffington Post and the media are reporting on a recent Gallup survey with results showing “Confidence in Congress” at 10 percent. Two points before I proceed.  

Gallup so badly blew it during the 2012 General Elections, I am reticent to use it as a viable source of poll results.  A case in point was Gallup’s recent poll results showing 49% 1,000 respondents “Approve” of George W. Bush. The same survey yielded results that 46% disapprove of Bush.  

We know America is a forgiving nation in some areas, but 49% “Approve” of G. W. Bush!  Yesterday, in a moment of serendipity we posited Gallup must have conducted the survey in Texas and among people who voted for George W. Bush twice.  I retract that bit of serendipitous fancy and supplant it with, “At least 500 people in America who took the Gallup survey are rabid.” 

Despite Gallup’s polling performance, the polling organization is reporting “Congressional Confidence” at 10 percent. Over the past year, I have consistently reported on the 13% “Approval” rating. The two ratings probably are such that the 3% differences is accurate.  People will at times squeamishly push the approval button, knowing full-well they are not fully comfortable with that button. The question about “confidence” places respondents in a bit of a different position.

Gallup

Confidence in Congress has been at its lowest points for several years, while it was higher in the mid-1980s and in the early 2000s.

Between 2009 and 2012, a period that saw Congress come under split control, these partisan differences gradually diminished, and this year, Democrats are a mere two percentage points more likely than Republicans to report having a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in Congress.

Gallup Linked

Huffington Post Linked     

Is it a stretch to think, if the data is accurate and not just more Gallup flatulence, the tea party and the GOP might be the root cause of the “Confidence” erosion? If we can find any basis in fact in the last statement, is it also not a leap to point directly at American voters who bought into the Koch Brothers tea party? The Koch Brothers tea party is equivalent to a well placed Claymoore Mine.

Notice the metaphoric semblance. Voters bit on the Koch Brothers Mirage of fighting to “Take Our Country Back” and “Don’t Tread On Me“. After placement of the “Claymoore tea arty”  in Congress the exploding ordinance spread its killing impacts across a wide swath. The swath in this context is a figurative diminution of progress towards a more economically sound nation and an over-the-top focus on social regression to times past.  The smoke clearing from the Koch (Claymoore) infested House, is clearing and what is left is Congressional “Confidence” levels moving to single digits.  Do you see the word “Trigger in the image above?”

Guess who has their fingers on the Trigger?

The figurative analogy has one last point. Voters in 2010 placed the Trigger in the hands of those who have guided the Congressional Confidence level to 10 per cent. 

If the Confidence level is at 10%, Einsteins quote becomes as relevant as his Theory of Relativity. Voters have the power to reverse the slide towards Zero “Confidence.”