Pelosi's Unique Take on Ethics

Speaker Pelosi hammered home the theme of ethics in government for years, and indeed, made it a centerpiece of the Democratic '06 campaign. So where is the ethical standard set when Pelosi seeks to appoint William Jefferson, he of the ongoing "cold cash" investigation -- to a spot on the House Panel that deals directly with the important -- and often classified -- issue of Homeland Security?

House Republicans are wondering about that exact question.

[Rep.] Blunt blasted Speaker Nancy Pelosi . . . for her endorsement of Jefferson for the Homeland Security Committee, calling the selection "ludicrous."

"I won't support that - it's such a contradiction of what the Speaker said," Blunt told reporters, referring to Pelosi's promise to run the most ethical Congress in history.

The FBI found $90,000 in cash in Jefferson's freezer when they raided his home last year as part of an investigation into whether he accepted bribes related to a telecommunications deal in Africa. Although the FBI probe is ongoing and the congressman has not been indicted, the ethics cloud hanging over Jefferson's head has caused headaches for Pelosi. Pelosi stripped Jefferson of his seat on the powerful Ways and Means Committee last year. That move angered members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who argued that Jefferson had not been indicted or found guilty of any crime and that ousting him from the tax-writing panel created an unfair precedent. Despite the demotion and the ongoing FBI investigation, Jefferson was reelected in November, leaving Pelosi in a quandary about how to handle his committee assignments. Before the recess, Pelosi announced that Jefferson would be placed on the Homeland Security panel.
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Jefferson's nomination to the panel likely will come to the floor as part of a slate of new committee assignments. Usually, nominations are non-controversial and are approved by unanimous consent, but Blunt indicated that Republicans plan to call for a recorded vote on Jefferson's committee assignment, a move that would force members to approve or disapprove of his selection for the panel.

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WAR ON THE SURGE. And no, not the Democrats this time. This time it was the insurgents who staged a rare frontal assault on a U.S. base north of Baghdad. The insurgents attempted to breach the entrance to the base with a suicide bomber and followed up with an attack by gunmen. Two U.S. soldiers were killed and 17 injured. The base was apparently of company size -- a little more then 100 men. We do not know how many of the insurgents were killed or captured. As ominous as the attacks is the NYT take on it.

As American troops move into small combat outposts throughout Baghdad for the first time since the early months after the invasion in 2003, today’s attack underscored the inherent risks in the Bush administration’s new security strategy.

The insurgents in Iraq, of whatever stripe, have a fairly sophisticated grasp of our news media, politics, and history. It seems clear that what they desire more then anything at this time is a TET style offensive. TET was the 1968 offensive undertaken by the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese regulars that doomed American involvment in Vietnam. It was a fight that we clearly won militarily, but it was played up as a huge win by the North Vietnamese in American press, leading shortly thereafter to our withdrawal from South Vietnam.

While not on TET's scale, I have no doubt that the assault that occurred today on a U.S. base was aimed directly at MSM. One of the truths of our military is that we have, in fact, because of our training, professionalism and equipment, a force far superior to anything that can be fielded by anyone else in the world today. In Iraq, we have never lost an engagement occurring at the platoon level or higher. Strip us of that mystique just once and I have no doubt that the calls for withdrawal from Democrats and a few White Flag Republicans, hand in glove with wall to wall coverage by MSM, would reach deafening levels.

Look for more attacks like these in the coming months -- and ask yourself, just how much of a disservice are Murtha, Pelosi, Reid, and their ideological companions in the MSM doing to our soldiers in the field?

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