"You don't have time..but you want twenty billion dollars!?"

[KeepItReal]

Senator Robert Byrd to Paul Bremmer, CEO of Iraq, inc. as Bremer refused to make time to follow-up with the Senate approprations committee.

Senator Byrd single-handedly represented us today when Paul Bremer snuck in a nearly-empty Senate Appropraitions committee. With only three(?) Senators present, Senator Byrd pleaded for additional hearings to consider the $20 Billion requested for non-military Iraq spending. The Republican committee chair refused his request, even though Sen. Byrd pointed out that normally proceedings aren't held on Mondays(?) when most Senators are not present.

Sen. Byrd grilled Bremer and lit into Bush & Co. for their unprovoked attack on Iraq. If C-SPAN replays it, I encourage you to watch.

Thank you, Senator Byrd. Keep fighting the good fight.

[Yupster]

1. Keepitreal? I watched the hearing for a good hour

Are you of the opinion that Senator Byrd did an impressive job this afternoon?

Byrd grilled Brener? Did he ever even ask a question?

[KeepItReal]

2. Sen. Bryd has been doing ok in my book when I've seen him

I didn't see the whole "hearing" from the beginning, but I did see Sen. Byrd read Bush & Co. the riot act about taking us to war, dissing the UN, then expecting them to come on board now. Bremer just happened to be in the hotseat while asking for $20 Billion.

The part where Byrd wanted to follow up with Bremer and the Chair said Bremer could not...then Bryd asked Bremer directly to appear, and Bremer said "the Chair has already addressed that". That was pretty sickening.

The chair of the committee said he'd do what it took to help the President...Byrd said that his responsibility was to follow the Constitution, not a President, Democratic or Republican.

[Yupster]

6. I felt sorry for Bremer

This guy has to be the busiest - most stressed man in the world right now. I'm sure it was not easy for him to pick up and leave Iraq for a week right now. I'm sure every second he's thinking of five things he's got to do.

But, when congress calls hearings, you go and answer their questions. They have six different committee hearings scheduled over the next couple of days. Bremer will sit there for hour after hour probably answering the same questions to six different committees for hour after hour.

Yet, when Senator Byrd has his chance to ask Bremer questions about the rebuilding and plans for Iraq, what did he ask?

Nothing.

He doddered on about how his wife had to miss a doctor's appointment which I'm sure impressed Bremer who left the most stressful job in the world and flew 20 hours to be there.

He talked at very considerable length about how the congress should not have authorized the president to start the war and how that was abrogating co0ngressional constitutional responsibilities. Of course that was all very interesting, but really didn't concern Bremer as he had nothing to do with any of that. He could have at least told Bremer that he could be excused for 20 minutes to check in with his office while I lecture on constitutional principles for a while.

He tried to read the New York Times aloud a little, but then seemed to lose his place.

He did ask one question from the plan he was given, but read it wrong, and the outrageous fact in the plan wasn't outrageous when it was pointed out that he was not seeing the period and was running two sentences together. After that embarrassment, he gave up asking questions.

The majority of his time he spent complaining that the hearing wasn't going to be long enough and there should be additional hearings.

I watched for 45 minutes to an hour. Of that time Byrd spoke for all but maybe two minutes.

Senator Bennett asked one or two pretty much yes or no questions, andthe rest of the time was all Byrd in all his glory.

He pontificated, lectured, complained, whined and bragged. In fact he did everything a sentaor at a hearing could do, except ask questions of the witness, a witness who had come considerable distance I'm sure against his will to be there.

It was a pretty pitiful appearance in my opinion, and I'd like to hear from others who saw it and thought Byrd did well.

[Ripley]

24. You feel sorry for the Puppet King of Iraq who smokes

Cuban cigars and drinks Saddam's Napoleon-age brandy in his palace fortified with about 10,000 GI's? What frickin stress? He doesn't DO anything.

[Terwilliger]

20. He did

He told his Republican "friend" that he didn't accept that the appropriation question should be so limited in scope. He asked that Bremer come back so that more people could ask some real questions about the appropriation.

Yeah, he did pretty well.

[gate of the sun]

3. Byrd......

what would we have done without him? One sane voice. I know there are more but he has been a fighter. I know his past was tarnished with the KKK but as far as I'm concerned he has done enough good to absolve himself. That's right I am the pope. Let's hope the future will absolve all the democrats who voted for the patriot act and the vote for letting Bush go to war. let's hope they can absolve themselves by their actions in the future.

[KeepItReal]

4. True

<EOM>

[Pastiche423]

5. One of The Senator's

best lines of the afternoon, "The Constitution is far above any president."

Once again, Byrd single handedly tried to represent and defend We, the People. Sen. Stevens (R-AK) (acting as Chairman) was his usual POS self. He called the hearing on a Monday (the Senate usually convenes on Tuesdays) w/only two hours notice, thus the empty chairs.

During Senator Byrd's questions, Stevens kept saying he had responsibilities at (his) home, meaning, Bryd was keeping him late. :wtf: We're talking about $20 Billion of taxpayer's dollars!

Senator Byrd was only asking for another R (Rescheduling). That now makes it four R's:

Recount
Recall
Redistricting
Rescheduling (The R the Dems won't get.)

THIS is how the rethugs are going to pass the $87B to give to whistle ass. Stevens made it clear there would be no other hearing for the Supplemental Appropriations Request.

Are transcripts from the hearings posted anywhere?

[Yupster]

8. What questions?

Did he ask any questions that weren't rhetorical?

He just lectured and Bremer just sat there.

Meanwhile, Stevens spent the whole time reading his e-mail or palm pilot or whatever that was. It may have been a game boy.

[Pastiche423]

10. Yes Byrd did ask questions

Although he got very few answers. Bremer answered most by saying, I don't know the answer to that, but I can find out. When Byrd asked him when he could get an answer, Bremer told him he din't have anymore time for the supplemental appropriations committee, but would "send" answers back. Which, of course, would give no opportunity for follow up questions.

Bremer couldn't answer to how the other billions have been spent in Iraq. He gave vague answers or answers that did not add up.

As Senator Byrd said, "I believe we are getting a snow job from this administraion." Boy, was that an understatement!

[Yupster]

14. Bremer wasn't even part

of the discussion you mention about questionsin writing.

Byrd was whining about not having enough time and Stevens told him he could always submit questions in writing. Byrd then correctly said he wouldn't have a chance to ask follow-up questions then. At that point, Stevens went back to playing with his gameboy or whatever that was.

Through the whole exchange Bremer just sat there. You made it sound like it was an exchange between Bremer and Byrd when it wasn't. It was between Stevens and Byrd.

After Stevens told Byrd there wasn't going to be another hearing, Byrd asked Bremer if he could appear for another hearing, and Bremer said the chairman(Stevens) had already answered that.

[Buns_of_Fire]

7. Doesn't Bremer ever stick around Iraq and do his job?

He gets appointed, he takes a freakin' vacation shortly afterward. WhistleAss wants more money for Halliburton, he comes over here to help raise it. Not that I expect much else from "the CEO administration," but couldn't they at least LOOK like they're earning their bloated salaries for a change?

[Yupster]

9. You don't think Bremer would have rather been back in Iraq

than sitting there being lectured about constitutional principles by an 85 year-old pompous former klansman?

[Buns_of_Fire]

11. By the time it's all finished, you're probably right

But he knew the job was dangerous when he took it. He had the option to go or not, unlike the troops over there. I just have a hard time dredging up any sympathy for the poor thing, sitting in the air conditioning and not getting shot at (literally), while the uniformed guys over there are getting shot at (literally).

[Yupster]

17. Do you know about General Ewell?

He was a Civil War general who led a division in Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.

Once he got all the troops in position, he would pick up a rifle and run to the front of the battle line and fight as an ordinary infantryman.

Very stupid for lots of reasons. For one thing, there were four brigades in his division, each with 1-2,000 men and a brigadier general who were often asking how they should maneuver their brigades during the battle. They had to go find Major General Ewell fighting with the boys in the front line. Of course he had little knowledge of the battle as he was in the midst of it. Also, not surprisingly, he was shot, and had his leg amputated putting him out of commission for months.

When he returned, he was promoted to Lieutenant General and put in charge of Stonewall Jackson's old Corps (Second Corps- Early, Rodes and Johnson's divisions). He no longer fought with the men, and he was much more timid overall in battle. In fact, many people blame him fr the loss at Gettysburg, though I think that unfair.

When he was asked about Gettysburg, he said something to the point of 'Oh there were so many mistakes made at Gettysburg, and I'm sure I made more than my share.'

[Buns_of_Fire]

22. I probably phrased it badly

I'm not suggesting that Bremer be handed an M-16 and sent out to clean up Baghdad. But, if I may be allowed ye-gods-yet-still-another football analogy, I think you'll find that the coach is usually on the field with the players -- not in the thick of it, but at least close enough so that he's not seen as calling-in the plays from across the country.

[Pastiche423]

12. That "pompous former klansman"

was the only person there defending YOU and I!

But fuck, if you don't care about your tax dollars going to Hallibutton and Bechtel, go right ahead and shoot a hole in your wallet, and the wallets of our children and grandchildren.

[Yupster]

13. How was he defending you or I

He was lecturing an administrator about decisions congress made and actions the president took, none of which had anything to do with what the guy was there to answer questions about. He just wasted the guy's time.

[Pastiche423]

15. That is no true

How many hours of the hearing did you listen to? Who else was there asking questions? What questions were asked? What did Bremer say?

Let me guess, you were for the slaughter, right?

[Yupster]

16. Answers

1. I listened to about 45 minutes or an hour.
2. There were only three senators there - Stevens, Bennettm, and the doddering ex-Klansman.
3. Bennett spoke for less than a minute and asked a couple of self-serving questions like "Do you know how long it took us to reconstruct Japan after WWII?" "MacArthur was there seven years", that sort of stuff. Stevens told Bremer he was there to help, and Bremer could call him anytime. He asked a couple questions like whether there's likely to be another suplemental this year, and whether this 20 billiob is included in the 75 billion. That kind of stuff. I bet he didn't ask questions for more than 3 minutes.

The rest of the time was Byrd excoriating congress for giving the president authority to start the war, and the largest amount of time was Byrd complaining that he didn't have enough time. I kept thinking, well you have time now -- use it damnit!

4. No, I ws for the war in Afghanistan, but Iraq is a whole nother matter. I think we got caught in a mobilization, where once Bush started moving troops into the region, he had to attack or back down. It kind of reminded me of the Schlieffen Plan in WWI where once the mobilization started, the attack had to go.

[Pastiche423]

18. He used the time

very efficiently. He got the fact that the hearing was rushed through, w/little Senate oversight, complete w/what lead up to the quagmire ON THE RECORD.

Btw, the hearing went on for hours. You missed the questioning.

[Yupster]

19. So what was I listening to?

It was the last part so it sure wasn't the opening statements.

If Byrd wanted to go through why he voted against the war another time that's fine. He should have excused the witness and told him he was going to lecture C-Span for a while and the witness could check in with his office.

[berry]

21. I watched the full hearing--about 4 hours.

I was also doing some busywork, so I may have missed a little, but one very important thing that you missed was the fact that although all the GOP senators were thoroughly briefed (I believe they were actually scripted, with each one given questions to ask, to elicit the info/propaganda that Bush*/Rove (or whoever) wanted out there. I can't prove it, but there were hints. I may go over the text when it comes out and see if maybe I can prove it...).

Anyway, as I was saying, the Repugs all got copies of the reconstruction plan, and possibly other briefing material, but every single Dem complained that they had received NOTHING. They can be excused for not having questions ready when they were deprived of notice (last minute) AND materials that they have a RIGHT to have in hand. I have no doubt they were all furious. And if Bremer was annoyed at being held up, it was nothing to how the Dems were feeling. I suspect Byrd rambled on on-purpose, just to get some digs in. And, of course, to get it into the record what was going on. Oh, Bremer swore he sent the materials to all Senators around July 24th (I think that was the date, anyway late July)--but as Leahy remarked, it's like "the check's in the mail." Murray (D-WA) and Dorgan (D-ND) were also there, and they asked pretty good questions. Leahy (D-VT) was quite brilliant.

But you're right. There weren't very many people there. And almost NO reporteres or others in the audience. Considering the importance of this decision, that is criminal. But it's exactly what the Bushies* wanted.

I can't believe you're bashing Byrd and worrying about Bremer's precious time. This WAS a puppet show, with Bremer the star puppet.

One aha moment--when I realized why the US wants to keep control of Iraq. It's not the democracy, it's the economy. They don't want to give up control until they've had time to totally deconstruct all the public institutions of Iraq and privatize them. Iraqis will have no chance to decide about globalization. Their currency will float. Foreign banks will have equal access to Iraqi banks. Foreign companies also. I think it was Dorgan who asked if they will even be allowed to have their own national bank (which is to say, make their own fiscal and economic decisions). This isn't being envisioned as an experiment in democracy, but an experiment in throwing a country into the deep end of total immersion in global capitalism. And yes, this surely means that Iraqis won't control their own oil.

Bremer said the report (the plan for the reconstruction--I wonder who wrote it, the names of the authors...?) was on his website (but gave no web address)--it's 98pp long, but I think worth searching for....

You certainly have a right to your own impressions and opinion, Yupster, but I for one disagree with you TOTALLY! You bought into the big lie--this was brought up at the last minute as an emergency bill ("hurry, hurry, there's no time for questions!") because they want to push it through without careful deliberation. A slimy manouver. In the face of that, I was delighted to hear Byrd's ramblings.

[soup]

23. Replaying now on cspan 2

well into it. Is there a transcript?