I agree with Matt -- it's important that the chair of the Intelligence Committee be someone who was right about the biggest intelligence issue of our time. And that's why Nancy Pelosi will be right to replace Jane Harman, preferably with Rush Holt or Silvestre Reyes.
I have nothing against Reyes, but I'm drawn to Holt by the sort of identity politics that I'm the most susceptible to. He's the former assistant director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, giving rise to "My Congressman is a Rocket Scientist" bumper stickers in his New Jersey district. I have an immediate trust in skilled academics from rigorous fields of study. There's also the point that he's a really smart guy.
It would also be cool for Pelosi to make the point that doing your job well -- that is, being right about which countries have WMD and which don't -- can trump seniority in making you a committee chair.
Monday, November 27, 2006
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The funny thing is, the hawks have this undeserved respectability that doesn't seem to come off. Jane Harman is a responsible grown-up and Rush Holt is a silly left-winger. This, despite the fact that recent history has completely vindicated Holt and completely torn apart Jane Harman's flimsy worldview.
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