As if more confirmation of DeWine's deficiency providing real oversight as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee were needed, here's the headline from a story in today's Cleveland Plain Dealer, in which our good senator essentially dismisses the newly released NIE on Iraq:

"DeWine says report not groundbreaking Stable Iraq will counter jihadists, he says"

http://www.cleveland.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/ispol/1159446626233850.xml&coll=2&thispage=2

An excerpt:

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He (DeWine) said that while he only recently read the document, he was briefed on it months ago.

"I read it this week," he said. "I was briefed on it, as I'm briefed on other things, as they come in, through my staff. But I don't read everything that comes in."

He said he receives thousands of documents a year, many from the CIA or related to intelligence. "I look at some of them, some of them I do not look at," he said. "But again, I had received a briefing from my staff on it when it came in. Most days when I'm in Washington, I receive a briefing from my staff, a member who works solely on the Intelligence Committee."

He said that on the day he received this briefing, "I was probably told about eight other reports."

Phil Singer, a spokesman for the Democratic senatorial committee, said that for an Intelligence Committee member, DeWine had little interest in oversight.

"It seems like a pretty important report to shuffle to the side for a few months," Singer said.

But DeWine said the report's claim was nothing new.

"I'm just telling you, I'm looking at this report. There's nothing of great significance in this report."

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It's very apparent that DeWine's facade as a moderate voice of reason within the GOP is nothing BUT a facade, and his replacement by Sherrod Brown should be of paramount importance to Ohio residents.

In a slightly longer report on CNN's on-line Political Ticker, I think we find something MUCH more substantive to be upset about. Note the headline, and let the first line sink in -- Bush barely mentioned Iraq, and WAS NOT ASKED about the war, when meeting with Senate Republicans:

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Thursday, September 28, 2006

Lott: Bush barely mentioned Iraq in meeting with Senate Republicans

From CNN's Ted Barrett

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush barely mentioned the war in Iraq when he met with Republican senators behind closed doors in the Capitol Thursday morning and was not asked about the course of the war, Sen. Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, said.

"No, none of that," Lott told reporters after the session when asked if the Iraq war was discussed. "You're the only ones who obsess on that. We don't and the real people out in the real world don't for the most part."

Lott went on to say he has difficulty understanding the motivations behind the violence in Iraq.

"It's hard for Americans, all of us, including me, to understand what's wrong with these people," he said. "Why do they kill people of other religions because of religion? Why do they hate the Israeli's and despise their right to exist? Why do they hate each other? Why do Sunnis kill Shiites? How do they tell the difference? They all look the same to me."

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Sure, as usual, Trent Lott sounds overly flip, and can't disguise his cluelessness about people who aren't Caucasian Christians -- but isn't the REAL story the disconnect Bush and his acolytes have over the disastrous war in Iraq? THEY JUST DON'T GET IT, DO THEY?

Tim -- (I posted this in response to another item you'd published yesterday, but haven't seen any update or additional info -- sorry if this appears to be pestering you, but this is important!) Can you provide a link to the full letter as sent by those law professors to Congress? While I'd argued in another post that Sherrod Brown's vote approving this atrocity needs to be understood in the context of electoral politics, it's obvious that the House bill should NOT be enacted into law on its merits. It would be enlightening to see the sort of advice being ignored by our elected representatives.

On behalf of all the diligent War Room participants, thanks for providing a link to the law professors' letter to Congress -- I hope it spreads widely as Election Day approaches and fuels greater voter determination to CHANGE COURSE in Washington DC.

"Staying the course" is NOT a rational choice any longer. As Sen. Kennedy just said, "In 40 days, we can put an end to this nonsense."

...any chance (soon-to-be former) Rep. Foley can be prosecuted under provisions of any law against sexual abuse of minors that bears his own name? How utterly sweet THAT would be!

Even simply forcing a life-time listing as a sexually oriented offender would be amazing, although jail time would be nice too.

Question -- how long will it take for Congress to pass a tough law stripping members of their pensions after felony convictions? The fact that Rep. Bob Ney will retain HIS pension, even after guilty pleas on corruption charges, is absolutely infuriating. None of these creeps deserves one more dime of public money!