Dem leaders say they were unaware of Petraeus hearing

[babylonsister]

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/dem-leaders-say-they-were-unaware-of-petraeus-hearing-2007-07-19.html

Dem leaders say they were unaware of Petraeus hearing
By Elana Schor
July 19, 2007

Two Senate Democratic leaders who failed to attend Thursday’s Pentagon teleconference with Gen. David Petraeus said they were unaware that they had been invited and questioned the White House’s use of faxes to notify senators of the high-profile briefing.

Both Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Democratic Caucus Secretary Patty Murray (Wash.) indicated they would have made room in their schedules to speak with Petraeus, the chief commander in Baghdad, and Ryan Crocker, U.S. ambassador to Iraq, if the White House had informed them more urgently.

Durbin said the White House’s communication about upcoming Iraq briefings is “usually very reliable,” but wondered aloud why the invitation to Thursday’s event came through a mass fax rather than staff notification.

snip//

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) noted on Thursday that an Aug. 1 Petraeus briefing for senators has long been in the works. Some Democrats described the more sudden joint briefing with Crocker as part of the White House effort to win back senators who are moving closer to public embrace of withdrawal from Iraq.

Several Democrats made it to Thursday morning’s sessions, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.). Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) did not attend in order to chair a Foreign Relations Committee hearing, during which Crocker testified via satellite. Asked later Thursday about the notification process, Biden said his White House invitation likely came through staff.

“I assume I got one,” he said.

[Greeby]

1. Assumption is the mother of all fuck ups nt

[maxsolomon]

2. why? because they didn't want you there, patty.

just because you have the majority doesn't me they're going to treat you with respect.

they are fighting a war against the democratic party, and the pentagon is on board.

[Owlet]

3. What are we to infer from this?

That Senators and/or their staffs don't read faxes from the White House? Kinda makes you wonder whether anyone bothered to read the emails Howard Dean had us all send the other night.

[Cassandra]

4. When was the last time anything urgent arrived via your fax?

Particularly when you are used to being alerted some other way.

[Igel]

5. They're blaming the WH, but you know that

when they go back to the office they'll be yelling at whoever retrieves stuff from the fax machine. They had their staff caught out sleeping on the job.

Either they let the stuff sit for a while, they're functionally illiterate, or dumber than gravel.

When I last was gainfully employed in private industry, if a fax came in and it sat for more than 2-3 hours, I was in deep, deep trouble, even if I couldn't do anything about the fax for days.

[spanone]

8. Fax machines are dinos, this is a bullshit story.

[hootinholler]

6. HAH! Read emails! Get. out.

:rofl:

I seriously doubt they are ever read. More like they are scanned for keywords so the staffer can mark checkboxes that drive the response letter generators.

-Hoot

[spanone]

7. Typical White House fuck you Congress bullshit.