The Impeachment Factor

"In a confirmation hearing before the Senate intelligence committee, General Hayden appeared in the pristine navy blue uniform he has worn for 36 years as an Air Force officer.

"But he repeatedly professed his independence from the Defense Department and its leadership, saying he had been 'uncomfortable' with the work of a Pentagon intelligence office run by Douglas J. Feith, a former undersecretary of defense, which asserted in the months before the Iraq war that Iraq had established ties with operatives for Al Qaeda in the Middle East.

"General Hayden also recounted disagreements with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld about the Pentagon's control over a large part of America's annual intelligence budget. In characterizing one such conversation, he said, 'I think it's what diplomats would call that frank and wide-ranging exchange of views,' he said."

The Chicago Tribune focuses on the surveillance issue:

"Gen. Michael Hayden, nominated to be the next director of the CIA, told a Senate committee Thursday that he initially doubted the legality of a Bush administration program to expand domestic wiretaps on U.S. citizens after the Sept. 11 attacks, but that White House officials convinced him the program was lawful. . . .

"Hayden told the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is considering his CIA nomination, he at first told then-CIA Director George Tenet that the NSA was doing all that the law allowed on surveillance. 'Director Tenet came back to me and said, "Is there anything more you can do?"' Hayden said. 'And I said, "Not within my current authorities." And he invited me to come down and talk to the administration about what more could be done.'

"After that talk, Hayden said, he was convinced the NSA could go further. Then-Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft provided the NSA with a memo giving a basis for that eavesdropping authority, he said."

Wasn't Hayden supposed to be demonstrating how independent he is?

Here's a real profile in courage:

"English would be declared the 'national language' of the United States under a measure approved by the Senate today, a largely symbolic move that supporters said would promote unity and ensure assimilation by immigrants," says the Los Angeles Times .

"The Senate passed two amendments, one Democratic and one Republican. The Democratic version is more specific on protecting translation and bilingual services."

Sounds like a panderfest. Little political downside that I can see.