There Goes The Neighborhood

by digby

I wrote yesterday about why the Democrats should not fear running on congressional oversight and wondered why the press is so anxious to avoid the fat, juicy stories that might come from these investigations. I’m glad to see that John Conyers, the investigative black boogeyman who has Joe Klein and the Republicans on the verge of tears, has explained why it’s important for the congress to oversee the executive. Now let’s see how the press reacts.

My guess is that they are going to be obsessed with this:

“At the end of the process, if — and only if — the select committee, acting on a bipartisan basis, finds evidence of potentially impeachable offenses, it would forward that information to the Judiciary Committee.”

I also suspect they are going to ask every Democrat (accompanied by much wailing and rending of garments) if he or she will “back” Conyers’ call to forward information about impeachable offenses to the Judiciary Committee. They are quite concerned, I believe, about whether a Democratic congress is going to behave properly. Certainly, the voice of beltway intellectual torpor, Joe Klein, is concerned that dark hued Democratic members have a problem with proper decorum. (We all saw that horrible, horrible funeral for Coretta Scott King.) You can understand why the press is nervous. They would hate to see the congress suffer the indignities of a circus-like atmosophere.

Certain people coming back into power in their town and “trashing the place” has them nervous. After all, it’s not their place.

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