A
CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE
By
Geoff Metcalf
August
4, 2002
NewsWithViews.com
He
who dares not offend cannot be honest.
-- Thomas Paine
The
controversy over the FBI wanting to get members of the House and Senate to
take lie detectors in their probe of intelligence leaks is a for real
catch-22.
-
There IS a problem
with real national security data being leaked.
-
There IS a problem
with Congress investigating Congress (especially in the wake of their
lousy capricious performance).
-
There IS a problem
within the FBI.
What to
do…what to do????
Abuse
of power under the color of authority is and has been a very real problem.
What do
you do when you can’t trust either Congress or the FBI to conduct fair,
impartial investigations?
The
problems are exacerbated by the very real constitutional and national
security elements.
-
Constitutionally, the
republic provided for three separate but equal branches of government.
The separation of powers was a brilliant concept even if we
have mucked up the practice with partisanship and malfeasance.
-
National security
(especially now in the post 9/11 arena) is a very real concern.
We cannot allow partisan differences to mitigate national
security.
So how
do we resolve mutually exclusive doctrines?
Congress
(especially those with something to hide) is never going to voluntarily
submit to lie detector tests. The leadership of BOTH parties have directed
their caucuses not to play. The FBI ‘could’ potentially target non-compliance
to voluntary tests for more aggressive investigative action.
The
law of unintended consequences:
Sen.
Richard Shelby ranted to the Associated Press that the probe violates the
government's separation of powers, he said. "You know the Senate and,
I assume the House, has always investigated their own."
And
THAT is part of the problem. IF Congress had honestly, fairly, objectively, and fully
“investigated their own” this would be a no- issue. However, because historically Congress has routinely
conducted white wash/cover ups and used internal investigations to develop
political capital, we don’t trust them.
There I said it.
Sen.
Chuck Hagel said, “…if you've got to go around and give your members
of Congress polygraph tests, then we've got a more serious problem than
just leaking sensitive information out. If we can't trust our nation's
leadership with sensitive information, then we ought to go back and start
all over again."
He is
half right. We DO have a more
serious problem than leaking information.
However, we don’t need to “start all over again”.
All that is necessary is for Congress to do its job.
The Ethics Committee is a joke.
Just look at the inconsistent way they handled Traficant and
Toricelli. Toricelli survived
with a slap on the wrist because he was a political asset to democrats.
When
Sen. Tom Daschle, said he has "grave concerns about the congressional
separation of powers issues raised by having one branch of government
asking to polygraph employees of another branch," it is a fair and
reasonable argument. But,
hey….they brought it on themselves.
It is an inevitable consequence of malfeasance.
What
to do.
The FBI
has already questioned all 37 members of the House and Senate intelligence
committees AND reportedly grilled 60 congressional staff members and
officials at the CIA, the Defense Department and the National Security
Agency.
Last
time I checked it was still a crime to lie to a federal agent.
Congressional immunity ends when they walk off the floor of
Congress.
It may
take a little more legwork, but if or when ANYONE is found to have
lied…and I mean ANYONE…Senator, Congressman, Federal Agent, or
staff…INDICT the s.o.b. for perjury, fraud, conspiracy, and anything
else they can throw at them.
Abuse
of power under the color of authority IS a crime (notwithstanding the art
form the previous administration fostered).
It was
de Tocqueville who warned us of the one tragic flaw he saw in our new
democracy. It was that as
time went on, would it be able to have the will to discipline itself from
the pressures of elections, the pressure to stay elected mounting a burden
on that constantly seeking of elections?
The sad
answer is No! Congress does
not have the discipline. Sadly,
the FBI has lacked the discipline to eschew pressures either political or
bureaucratic. However, the
system CAN work…if, and only if, the Congress and the FBI focus on WHAT
is right or wrong rather than WHOM.
If a
Bob Packward had to go because he was a boor, how do you justify keeping
Ted Kennedy? If Wilbur Mills
had to go why not Gary Condit?
Last
week http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/7/28/190904.shtml
I referenced Senator Patrick Leahy. He
was forced to resign a committee for leaking sensitive data.
Big whoop! He should
have been booted out of congress and sent to stony lonesome.
© 2002 Geoff Metcalf - All
Rights Reserved
