[Requested by Bird Girl]
I'm glad Bird Girl asked about Reyes, the next Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, because I knew nothing at all about him. I'm not sure I know all that much now, but there is at least a little. He appears to be generally moderate; he's a veteran and a former Border Patrol agent; he chairs the House Hispanic caucus; and he has been outspoken in his criticism of Bush's conduct of the war in Iraq, and intelligence matters in general.
An article in yesterday's Chronicle says it was a smart move by Pelosi, which is good news as far as it goes, but tells us very little about Reyes himself, or how he might be expected to run the committee. The story has a lovely bit of unintentional humor, from a Republican committee member:
"If I've got one concern, which is not related to him specifically but in general, it is whether the committee will be able to do its job in an independent way," Thornberry told the Houston Chronicle.Riiiight. Now independence matters.
Reaction among bloggers has been mixed. Ezra Klein was cautiously positive about Reyes; so was Matt Yglesias. Reyes hasn't been shy about criticizing Bush on intelligence matters, and as Michael Crowley points out, he was right when it mattered. Here's part of his speech opposing the Iraq war resolution:
I reluctantly today rise in opposition against this resolution, because I think that the president has not made a case as to why Iraq and why attack Saddam Hussein. As a member of the Intelligence Committee I have asked consistently the questions to those that have come before us with information, I've said -- I've asked the question of what is the connection between 9/11 and Iraq and Saddam Hussein? None. What is the connection between Iraq and Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda? Very little, if any.That alone makes him worthy of the post, as far as I'm concerned.
The one real area of concern, as David Kurtz observes, is that Reyes, while on a junket with Crazy Curt Weldon, may have (along with Weldon) met with arms dealer, Iran-Contra veteran, and all-around scam artist Manucher Ghorbanifar...against the advice of the CIA. Laura Rozen has details. If he did, it was certainly exceedingly poor judgment; there is, however, reason to doubt that he did meet with Ghorbanifar. Even if he did, the meeting was (by all accounts) Weldon's initiative, not Reyes', and I'm not inclined to worry too much about it...especially given that he showed far better judgment when most of his colleagues had surrendered theirs to political expediency.
In any case, I think the few liberal bloggers who have expressed dismay about the choice are exaggerating not just the negatives, but the importance of who on the Democratic side is chosen for the post. Kevin Drum puts it all in perspective:
Of course, it's worth keeping in mind that at least the new chairman won't be Pete Hoekstra. We're in for an upgrade no matter what happens.Amen to that.
[That's all, folks]
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