My God, can two people be more clueless than Frist and Hastert?? They apparently couldn't care less about the fact that the CIA has created a network of secret jails with little or no oversight -- no sirree, what we need to focus on is who told the Washington Post all about it. If ever there was a clear picture of totally LAME Republican leadership at it's finest, surely this would be it!

What's puzzling to me is why in the world did Cheney spill the beans about these prisons at a lunch meeting? Is he even more clueless than Frist and Hastert? Did he perhaps think that the Senators who attended this meeting would then get behind his push to have the CIA exempted from torture prohibitions if they knew the CIA was holding countless prisoners in secret prisons? If so, I have to conclude that Dick Cheney thinks those Senators are as corrupt and without conscience as he is. (And if it turns out that it was one of those senators who leaked the story to the Washington Post, then isn't it nice to know that at least 1 Republican Senator may have a conscience after all?)

Frist and Hastert and Bush are playing to the hardcore crowd. Fortunately I think the American people are beginning to wake up to the reality of the Christian right and neocons. The assault on science, the assault on our separation of church and state, the promotion of abusive practices and secret prisons, the deceitful selling of the Iraq war and the following quagmire, Tom Delay, the money-grubbing practises that are assosciated with Iraq and hurricane reconstruction (Haliburton, need I say more?),I think there is a profound unease growing amongst mainstream Americans over all of these things.

Global warming isn't the only climate change. We're starting to see a shift in the political climate. Bush, Cheney, Frist, Hastert...they're becoming dinosaurs, and they're looking more and more desperate as they appeal to an ever more rigid base. Its amusing to see even Trent Lott distance himself. Unfortunately we're stuck with this crowd for a few more years, but I think neocon/Christian movement will be in it death rattle soon.

When I read anything a Republican says I'm skeptical. Could this be posturing? CNN's Ed Henry quotes Lott as saying of senators "we can't keep our mouths shut." When I saw that, the first thing that came to mind was that they are justifying why Senators should not be allowed to have classified material (think about this in the context of the Senator Roberts Phase 2 investigation).

The minute I heard about this (and before Trent Lott opened his mouth) I thought that this is not an investigation that is going to make Republicans look good. For starters, the Frist-Hastert response tends to confirm the truth of the story, and the questions raised thereby would come to a boil smack in the middle of an election year. From a tactical perspective, it looks like an incredibly stupid play. (From the point of view of a citizen almost beyond the point of further outrage, I'm for it 110%.)

How did Frist ever get through medical school?

Tim - we don't want the Republican leadership getting smart about anything. We want them to keep shooting themselves in the foot.

Dear Editor,

I agree Frist and Hastert are also suffering from bunker

mentality, and they have it just as bad as Bush.

A small glimmer of hope, at least Reps. Shays and Graham are not letting their own bunker tendencies get

in the way of clear thinking about this issue. They

show strength of character and I applaud them. They

may be the future hope for the Republican Party. These

gentleman also seem to have some morals and some

patriotism.

Possibly Shays and Graham see their allegiance to

the truth and to America supercede their allegiance to

the Republican Party. Stay with us Shays and Graham you

seem to be headed in the right direction.

Bush is the problem with his presidency, he needs to

attend ethics class. I firmly believe that no amount

of ethics will help him as he has no morals and no

character. So he needs to get rid of Cheney and Rove.

There seems to be no one suitable to be vice president

certainly not Jeb Bush.

If I were Bush the first thing I would do after firing

the above would be to hire David Gergen. I like that

guy and the way he thinks. Secondly, I would somehow

try to get President Jimmy Carter to serve in some

advisory capacity. Mr. Carter has morals and character. Next,Bush should consider Shays and Graham for his staff if Mr. Carter and Mr. Gergen approve. If Bush can

get Brent Scowcroft or one of his proteges (not Condi) for his security advisor that would be another step in the right direction With Carter and Gergen as anchors GW can build a good to very good administration.

Signed: A Staunch Conservative and an

Independant Voter

The existence of CIA "black sites" have been known in Europe for several years.

We should tell Bill Frist to put the blame of the so-called "leak" (!) on the French.