We don't need no fuckin oversight!

The Senate Intelligence Committee was created in 1976 and, from the beginning, it has been unique in its structure and operation. Due to the urgency of ensuring that our country has nonpartisan and non-politicized oversight over the Government’s intelligence activities, the Intelligence Committee is structured so that -- unlike every other Senate Committee -- the majority is unable to dominate the Committee’s operation and agenda, and the minority has much greater powers than it does on any other Senate Committee.

The above is from Glen Greenwald's post, Bill Frist threatens to re-structure the Intelligence Committee in order to block NSA hearings. Under it's chairman and Bush cultist Pat Roberts the The Senate Intelligence Committee has become little more than a rubber stamp for the Bush administration and rather than exercising oversight of intelligence has simply become a shield for the Bush administration. As I reported here earlier even Robert's hometown newspaper sees him as nothing but a shill.

From Abu Ghraib abuses to secret CIA detainee prisons to the Valerie Plame affair, critics say, Roberts has become a dependable shill for the White House, ever ready to shield Bush policy from criticism and ever willing to compromise Congress' legitimate oversight role.

Greenwald reports that Roberts needs some help from the Senate Majority Leader and fellow Bush sycophant Bill Frist.

With the March 7 vote looming on Sen. Rockefeller’s motion for the Committee to finally hold hearings to investigate the scope and nature of the Administration’s NSA warrantless eavesdropping on American citizens -- and with several Committee Republicans indicating their intent to vote for hearings -- Majority Leader Bill Frist threatened the Committee yesterday and warned it not to hold any hearings.

Frist specifically threatened that if the Committee holds NSA hearings, he will fundamentally change the 30-year-old structure and operation of the Senate Intelligence Committee so as to make it like every other Committee, i.e., controlled and dominated by Republicans to advance and rubber-stamp the White House’s agenda rather than exercise meaningful and nonpartisan oversight.

Yet again, Republicans are threatening to radically change long-standing rules for how our government operates all because they cannot manipulate the result they want. From redistricting games to changing the filibuster rules, when Republicans are incapable (even with their majorities) of manipulating the political result they want, they use their majority status to change how our government works in order to ensure the desired political outcome.

This is another case of if you can't win by the old rules just change the rules. Senator Harry Reid wrote a letter to Bill Frist demanding that a vote on Rockefeller’s motion be allowed. Bill Frist's response is amazing.

I am increasingly concerned that the Senate Intelligence Committee is unable to its critically important oversight and threat assessment responsibilities due to stifling partisanship that is exhibited by repeated calls by Democrats on the Committee to conduct politically-motivated investigations. . . .

I would propose that we meet with Senators Roberts and Rockefeller as soon as possible. The Committee was established and structured to reflect the Senate’s desire for bipartisanship, and to the maximum extent possible, nonpartisan oversight of our nation’s intelligence activities. If attempts to use the committee’s charter for political purposes exist, we may have to simply acknowledge that nonpartisan oversight, while a worthy aspiration, is simply not possible. If we are unable to reach agreement, I believe we must consider other options to improve the Committee’s oversight capabilities, to include restructuring the Committee so that it is organized and operated like most Senate Committees.

One of the reasons it's amazing is the desire for an investigation is in this case bi-partisan. As Glenn says:

Frist's claim that he wants to block the NSA hearings in order to ensure that the Committee can engage in meaningful oversight is as Orwellian an example of up-is-downism as you will find.

Update
Joe Gandelman has a great post on this and he makes a couple of good points.

1. Don't forget: there have been parties in the majority before in American history. We have seen few times where power has been used in such a ham-handed manner in Congress as this.
2. You can think that warrantless wiretaps have some merit or even enthusiastically support them while vehemently opposing what Frist is trying to do — to use raw power to changes rules that might result in something that might prove negative for his boss the President. If it wasn't political fear motivating this, he wouldn't be threatening to do it.
3. This is not your grandfather's GOP, it's not your father's GOP — and it's not even the first President Bush's GOP.
   
   But perhaps some GOPers will remind Senator Frist that they don't want their party to morph into his idea of the GOP.
   
   If not, many voters may give Mr. Frist & friends a reminder in November in a nice, big protest vote.