SENATOR DICK DURBIN--Standing Up to the Veep
SENATOR DICK DURBIN OF ILLINOIS
Kudos to ILLINOIS’ other Senator. DICK DURBIN doesn’t get as much ink as super-star BARACK OBAMA. The state’s senior senator is not flashy. After he was first elected, trouncing local mope AL SALVI, the first of several members of that wealthy family to be soundly rejected by the voters, many Illinois political pundits dismissed him as a “light weight” and even as a political hack.
But Durbin was a disciple of the man into whose Senate seat he settled, PAUL SIMON, one of Illinois’ greatest gifts to “The Club.” Durbin learned well at his master’s feet. Quietly Durbin began building a reputation as one of the Senate’s hardest workers and one of its most reliable progressive voices despite a persona that generally eschewed both confrontation and the limelight.
Recognizing his gifts, his colleagues in the SENATE DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS awarded him with plum committee assignments and advanced him in the leadership. He is now MAJORITY WHIP, second only MAJORITY LEADER HARRY REID.
On Tuesday Senator Durbin did what few other Congressional Democratic leaders have dared to do. He directly challenged the power and authority of THE DARK SITH LORD CHENEY, A.K.A the VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. Acting as Chair of a Senate Appropriations Sub-Committee, Durbin engineered a vote to strike $4.8 million operating funds for the office of the Vice President. Minority Republicans howled mightily. Some conservative Democrats squirmed as if over-dosed with ExLax. But Durbin got it done.
The action was in response to the Veep’s outrageous stonewalling of complying with reporting requirements of the INFORMATION SECURITY OVERSIGHT OFFICE OF THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES. Cheney’s dodges included trying to abolish the agency outright, claiming-until hooted down by the unanimous incredulity of legal scholars-that he was not part of the EXECUTIVE BRANCH, to the current ludicrous claim that the Office of the Vice President is not an “agency” of the executive branch.
Way to go, Senator!