General Hayden Confirmed as Director of the CIA

Well once again, with a rush vote and pressure by Frist to nominate Gen. Hayden, we got just that today. So it is not surprising to read what John Nichols has to say regarding the vote:

If there actually was an opposition party in Washington, the nomination of Air Force General Michael Hayden to serve as director of the Central Intelligence Agency would have been doomed from the start.

Unfortunately, there is no opposition party in Washington.

There is, instead, a Democratic Party that, when push comes to shove regularly allows itself to be shoved.

Or perhaps what Dr. Strangelove over at TPM writes:

When President Bush nominated General Michael Hayden for the position of Director of Central Intelligence he threw down a gauntlet to the Democrats. He dared the Democrats to do battle on this nomination. He dared the Democrats to vote against Hayden and he dared the Democrats to hold up the nomination. He dared the Democrats to leave vacant the CIA Director's position while the United States is engaged in wars in Afghanistan and in Iraq. Predictably, the Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee saw the gauntlet, turned tail, and fled.

At any rate, here is the link to see how the Senators voted. I wish I could remember who said today that the Senate rushed to vote on the Immigration Bill and the nomination of Hayden but tabled the bill for the troops until Congress returns from their Memorial Day vacation. I doubt the troops are on vacation.