With Friday's revelation that former veep Dick Cheney gave very direct orders to the CIA to conceal from Congress a massive government surveillance program, it again highlights the total hypocrisy from Republicans concerning federal power when they are in office. Below I wrote about presidential appointment of "czars" and Republicans crying like little babies when Obama does it. Today we have Republicans shrugging shoulders at this newest revelation of very extreme power grabs by the Bush administration.
Here's Senator Kyl (R-AZ) saying that if it's a top secret program then it's okay to hide it from Congress. I couldn't imagine if it was Barack Obama hiding top secret spying programs from Congress what Sen. Kyl would be saying. Obama publicly and openly appoints people to run certain policy directives and Repubs claim he's trying to avoid Congressional oversight and using it as a power grab. But the Bushies can intentionally hide from Congress a massive spying program and Repubs shrug their shoulders.
It's the same no matter the subject. When Democrats commit acts of immorality it proves they are unfit and should be removed from office. When Republicans do the exact same thing they merely pray to God and give Bible quotes as to why they don't have to resign. When Bush appoints more "czars" then any president in history, it's perfectly normal. When Obama does it, it's proof he's a socialist dictator. When Republicans are in power there isn't anything they can do that should be criticized.
It's all so redundantly stupid but the real point in all of this is that Congress has oversight of the CIA. Even if it's a "top secret" program, Congress has OVERSIGHT. It doesn't matter what Sen. Kyl may think, the president or vice president cannot order it concealed from Congress. That's the whole point.
