In September, Roll Call reported that the House Minority Whip, Rep. Steny Hoyer (MD), had cobbled together a dozen or so of his colleagues “to shape the Democratic strategy on national security issues and battle perceptions that the party is weak on defense.”
Hoyer, of course, is right. But, as Sen. Lieberman is finding out, the Democratic faithful are not buying Hoyer’s line. And apparently neither is one of the members of Hoyer’s own group, the one-time deputy of the “centrist” Democratic Leadership Council, Rep. Ellen Tauscher (CA). She has co-sponsored legislation with Rep. John Conyers (MI), ranking member on the Judiciary committee, calling for the termination of the NSA’s terrorist surveillance program — a program Gen. Hayden says “has been successful in detecting and preventing attacks inside the United States.” Tauscher calls the Bush administration’s actions “despicable” and is “deeply disturbed” by it all. Meanwhile, her ally spends his days pushing for the impeachment of the president and accusing the White House of “defrauding” the nation into war. That stone is getting bigger by the day.
