Add me to the list of people baffled and dismayed by Reyes’ ignorance. I mean, Hezbollah was FRONT PAGE FUCKIN’ NEWS LAST MONTH. Al-Qaeda has been at the top of our list of security issues since about 10 in the morning on 9/11/01.
You’d almost have to be trying to be as apparently clueless as Reyes showed himself to be. Either that or living in a shack in the middle of nowhere. No, scratch that; Ted Kaczynski at least read the newspaper.
Oh, stop the fake outrage.
Perhaps, but I know of few other situations where people in leadership positions are exceptionally knowledgeable about the facts and figures. Especially when the responsibilities are vast.
Yeah, he should have known, but he didn’t. Big fucking deal. Unless it’s your contention that the ignorance he showed in that interview will affect his ability to be chairman, it’s really a moot point.
The Ignorance Illness has been in Washington long before Reyes was infected. ( perhaps Bush is contagious?) I just read that President Bush referred this morning to Iraq as “a war that we now find ourselves in.” credit Squink for original posting
Dis Reyes all you want, but he didn’t just wake up this morning, after thousands upon thousands of American lives have been pissed away, and say. “Golly Gee Whilickers, Laura, huh-huh, I guess we’re at War. I wunner how That happened, huh-huh…”
Agreed. I don’t think I implied otherwise. He should have known. My point is that the conclusions people seem to be drawing from this are based on a fundamental misunderstanding of what these people do all day, and that in the grand scheme of things, this is not that big a deal.
No excuses. I just urge people to get some perspective on this. Also note that other people on the same committee failed that same test. Apparently, there are at least a few people in Congress that are not “experts” on their issues. Not to excuses Reyes, but let’s not pretend humanity is doomed to repeat 9/11 because a congressman can’t tell you which Muslim group is in AQ.
Brickbacon, I understand and am familiar with the circumstances of political office that you describe. I regularly attend hearings and note that most of the legislators (especially on the House side) just pop in for a minute to read a prepared question or two and then pop out.
However, I agree that Reyes’s inability to answer these simple questions is absolutely shocking. These are things that I can answer without hesitation, and I’m certainly no expert on national security or international affairs. These are things that people in important positions should just know. It’s not equivalent to not knowing exactly the language in a bill and relying on your staff’s analysis because there are just too many damn bills to read.
This is the kind of casual ignorance that makes George W. Bush so supremely unfit to serve in a position of importance. It’s more than disconcerting that we’re seeing it on our side as well.
To me, it seems as though he didn’t answer the Hezbollah question because he knew he wouldn’t know the answer to the inevitable follow-up question. It seems as though he just quit while he was behind. I could be wrong, but I’d find it hard to believe he’s never heard of them. Not to mention that he seems fairly educated on the other issues he was quized on. To quote the article:
So we can add Reyes to the long list of politicians that are ignorant. Sad, but not earth shattering and certainly not that uncommon.
It was neither fake, nor outrage.
It was a perfectly genuine observation about your occupational conflict of interest on this issue.
“Facts and figures”?
You’re acting like the guy was asked to recite some esoteric or arcane set of statistics. He was not. He was asked a couple of fundamental questions about the most basic characteristics of two of the most important organizations in the world under the purview of his committee.
“Is Al Qaeda sunni or shia?”
“What is Hezbollah?”
If you can’t answer those questions after five years on the House Intelligence Committee, then i don’t know how you can function properly on that committee.
What if someone comes in front of your committee proposing that America devoted greater intelligence resources to making contacts within the Sunni community. It’s a bit hard to properly evaluate such a request, i imagine, if you don’t know whether the Sunni are the ones that Al Qaeda loves, or the ones they want to cut the heads off.
That’s precisely my contention, because i believe that someone doing a job like this should have some basic grasp of the issues that he’s confronting. Being chairman isn’t—or shouldn’t be—just a matter of swinging a gavel and looking important.
I’m sure Reyes will muddle through. I’m sure plenty of our other House Committee chairs muddle through as well. Doesn’t mean it’s a good thing, or that we should just laugh it off when the people who are supposed to be running things don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about.
The old “He’s no worse than anyone else” argument. That’s very inspiring.
As someone who far prefers Democrats to Republicans, i criticize this argument when Republicans make it (e.g., by bringing up Clinton’s lying to Congress). I’m not going to accept it now, just because the person under fire happens to be a Democrat. Being “no worse than anyone else” in Washington should not be good enough any more.
Yeah, and this Trent Lott interview was exactly what was in my mind when I read the Reyes thing. Our side can’t put up anyone who can answer basic questions better than a know-nothing snake-oil-salesman like Trent freaking Lott? It’s supremely depressing. We’re the party of realism and rationality and Reyes doesn’t know off the top of his head that Al Qaeda is Sunni and Hezbollah is Shiite? How are policymakers supposed to make decisions based on the facts if the facts seem to be so elusive?
You would have a point, if he were the one that was, for all intents and purposes, making the decision. His staff essentially makes the decisions. I’d bet money that if you quizzed all the members of every committee on the “basic facts” of many issues within their area of interest, many of them would fail. There is no need to act shocked when confronted with ignorance; we should ask why it exists in the first place. The question should be, how could he, and the two others on the committee, not know. How can you be on a committee for years and not know the basic facts? Apparently, it is pretty easy, considering he is not the only one who has displayed such ignorance (ie. Bush, Lott, FBI Agents).
I’m not excusing the man, just pointing out the nature of the beast. People don’t like policy wonks and brainiacs (for the most part), and don’t elect them. Then, they are shocked when the slick talking pig they just elected rolls around in his own shit. It’s not just politics, it’s the way many people in leadership positions are. I would be far more concerned if his ignorance manifested itself in any way, other than public embarassment due to an interview.
They generally don’t make decisions themselves, that’s what their staff does. The congressmen don’t read/write bills. They don’t write their own words, or sign their own documents. They don’t go to hearings, do research, or run their own offices. What do you expect? Of course, some are more involved than others, but the point obtains. They are all snake-oil-salemen to a large degree, because you can’t get elected otherwise. That’s the nature of the business. The member is more concerned with keeping his job, and the jobs of the dozens of people who work for him, and providing a way for those people to support their families. All you can do is hope that they are intelligent and inquisitive enough that they will be able to effectively process the information once it is presented to them. I really don’t give a shit if a representative can’t rattle off info in an interview, because i am confident he listens to people who do.
And how does he choose the right people to listen to without some familiarity with basic, operative facts? We’re not talking about arcana here. Presumably, we vote for a candidate because we believe that his basis for making decisions more or less matches ours.
And I think the impression you’re creating is going more and more to the opposite extreme. Yes, a member of Congress is not going to necessarily have command of all the details of every issue that he or she comments or votes on.
But, come on, I’ve seen them talk, and most of them have some political philosophy beyond “get re-elected” and have some ability to speak intelligently about some area of policy. You can’t listen to Arlen Specter, Orrin Hatch, Patrick Leahy, Joseph Biden, John Conyers, John Dingell, Henry Waxman, Howard Berman, Rick Boucher, and many others can speak intelligently off-the-cuff about the most critical business before at least one of their committees.
Yes, there are a large number of goofballs in the House (maybe even a majority) who regularly embarrass themselves with their lack of information, but we are justified in expecting that our side will not choose committee chairman from that group.
Natural selection of a different sort…
The Merkin Pippul are able to tolerate even greater ignorance from a Presidential candidate. Remember the foreign-affairs test in 2000?
“Jaywalking”?
I don’t get it.
You’re from Anaheim ? This just has to be a whoosh.
When you whoosh upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you…
Anyone see The Daily Show tonight?
This issue got a mention.
Recurring skit from Jay Leno’s talk show, where he walks around public places with a camera crew and asks passersby questions about current events. The humorous/sad element of the show is just how clueless the “average American” is about the country and the world.
It’s apropos because Reyes’ answers sound very much like some of the responses Jay gets on “Jaywalking.”
Oh. I don’t watch Leno so, no, it’s not a whoosh.
I am in Anaheim, though. Thanks for the info, One Cent Stamp.