Harry, giving 'em hell

Senator Harry Reid, on the do-nothing congress' failure to hold Bush accountable:

Here we are with six days left in the 109th Congress, and the Republicans, which control the House and the Senate and the White House, have not held one hearing, not one, into the President's wartime failures. During the Civil War, President Lincoln was faced continually with oversight hearings by his Congress. And of course we know during World War II there were a number of commissions. The most famous was that conducted by Senator Harry Truman of Missouri which led to his becoming vice president, and some say that if it wasn't for that he wouldn't have been chosen as vice president.

What was the Truman Commission? It was to determine what was going on with World War II. It was used to investigate money being wasted for troop levels. Korea hearings were held. We know that many, many hearings on Vietnam were held.

But, Mr. President, this war: none. Even though this war has taken longer than it took to settle the difference in the European Theatre in World War II. And so we'll be at the same amount of time that we were able to defeat Japan.

This Republican Congress has wasted 20 months on the Schiavo case, dealing with someone's personal relationships that should not have been before this body. Gay marriage, the nuclear option, flag burning, repealing the estate tax. But they couldn't find a day - they couldn't find a day - for time to look at the President's mistakes. Missteps, misconduct which have hurt American security and plunged Iraq into a civil war. Not a day.