Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

(107,106 posts)
Fri May 11, 2018, 02:29 PM May 2018

Sen. Cotton's bipartisan knack for being disagreeable

As I sat in the hearing room watching Gina Haspel’s confirmation hearing to be director of central intelligence, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief … that Tom Cotton wasn’t nominated to run the CIA.

Cotton, a 40-year-old Republican senator from Arkansas and a Trump loyalist, had been the front-runner for the position. But President Trump instead tapped a career CIA operative, and Cotton was on the dais when Haspel testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday.

Haspel has her flaws. Her lawyerly statements about torture and her role in destroying tapes of black-site interrogators using it did not inspire confidence that she would stand up to Trump if he pressed her to, say, poison Angela Merkel’s Pilsener.

But Haspel’s flaws are nothing compared with those of Cotton, who has surpassed Ted Cruz, R-Texas, as the most disliked member of the Senate. He used his five minutes of questioning time to “clear up” and to “take exception to” the “entirely false” things his colleagues said, peppering his remarks with gratuitous partisan swipes.

And then, he kept going.

When Rhode Island’s Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, was questioning Haspel about moral standards, Cotton heckled his senior colleague from the other side of the dais.

A few minutes after that, when intelligence committee Vice Chairman Mark R. Warner, D-Virginia, was giving closing remarks about former CIA director John Brennan’s views on torture, Cotton interrupted again.

-snip-

Chairman Richard Burr of North Carolina hammered the gavel to silence his fellow Republican.

“The senator will suspend,” he ordered.

Cotton ignored Burr. “We need the full record on the record!” he continued.

“No,” Burr repeated. “The senator will suspend.”

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/milbank-sen-cottons-bipartisan-knack-for-being-disagreeable/?utm_source=DAILY+HERALD&utm_campaign=3abd579924-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d81d073bb4-3abd579924-228635337

1 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Sen. Cotton's bipartisan knack for being disagreeable (Original Post) Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin May 2018 OP
Thank god the brilliant Cotton and Ted Cruz are so repulsive Cicada May 2018 #1

Cicada

(4,533 posts)
1. Thank god the brilliant Cotton and Ted Cruz are so repulsive
Fri May 11, 2018, 03:43 PM
May 2018

If they were even half human they would really be dangerous

Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Editorials & Other Articles»Sen. Cotton's bipartisan ...