Report after report has come out showing Pelosi to be the liar she is, but now people are starting to see that her lies are to protect herself from her base.
From CNN, linked above:
A source close to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi now confirms that Pelosi was told in February 2003 by her intelligence aide, Michael Sheehy, that waterboarding was actually used on CIA detainee Abu Zubaydah.
Using a tactic that has worked for them in the past, the Democrats think that distracting from this issue is the way to get passed it and what a better distraction technique to use than handing the left a nice juicy conspiracy theory to go on about?
The Politico, titled "Democrats: CIA is out to get us."
The 10-page document, which was prepared after an April 20 request by Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.), lists 40 instances in which the CIA briefed members of Congress between September 2002 and March 2009. But they provide a vague description of the briefings, giving just enough information to fuel claims that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other top officials have long known about waterboarding and other tactics but did little to stop the techniques from being used.
I wonder if the House majority leader, Steny Hoyer, D-Md, will be listed as one of the "conspirators" because while he claims Pelosi is being used as a "diversion" he also admits the issue of what Pelosi and other Democratic politicians knew and when they knew it, needs to be resolved.
Hoyer, asked at a news conference whether Democrats were inviting political problems for themselves by holding hearings, said, "I think the facts need to get out.
"I think the Republicans are simply trying to distract the American public with who knew what when. My response to that is, look, the issue is not what was said or what was known; the question and focus ought to be on what was done."
But he added that the controversy over "what was said and when it was said, who said it ... is probably what ought to be on the record as well."
Let the investigations begin, yes, and let us make sure that everything comes out, everything becomes public knowledge, because blaming the CIA for actions that Congress could have prevented (withholding funding or creating legislation), but didn't, and claiming now that they "didn't know" is a hot button topic and one that needs to be resolved, publicly, so that their supporters know how badly they have been lied to by their own representatives.
But Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the longest-serving member of the Intelligence Committee, said that if Pelosi or other Democrats objected to the interrogation techniques when they were briefed on them, they could have offered legislation — or withheld appropriations for the program.
“We’re not without power up here,” Hatch said. “Now, they can make a fuss on policy differences, but to try and besmirch the people who had these tough decisions to make during those trying times is really offensive to people like me.”
Asked if he felt the relevant lawmakers were kept informed of the interrogation tactics, Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas, who was the top Republican on the Intelligence Committee, offered what he called “a strong, affirmative yes.”
Let the investigations begin and please, make them completely transparent and very public.
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