Senate "Hijacking": Rule 21

(1)Frist said Democrats had "hijacked" the Senate, and Democrats threatened to close the chamber each day until Republicans agreed to move forward with the investigation. "This is an affront to me personally," said Frist, a Tennessee Republican. "This is an affront to our leadership. It is an affront to the United States of America, and it is wrong."

The first thing that you need to know is that you can't hijack a body using its own rules. This should be obvious. Sorry Frist, no dice. While Frist was wrong about that one, Frist was right about the next point, this is an affront to his leadership. This totally undermines his leadership - tough. The Senate isn't like the House in many ways, and one is that it's agenda is not set by the majority leader the way that it is in the House. Finally, Frist is back to wrong when he says that this is an affront to the USA and is wrong. The minority party was meant to have a voice in the Senate and it is credit to this country when they do. So what exactly is rule 21? Why don't I hear much about it? Well, here it is:

(2)Standing Rules of The Senate RULE XXI SESSION WITH CLOSED DOORS 1. On a motion made and seconded to close the doors of the Senate, on the discussion of any business which may, in the opinion of a Senator, require secrecy, the Presiding Officer shall direct the galleries to be cleared; and during the discussion of such motion the doors shall remain closed. 2. When the Senate meets in closed session, any applicable provisions of rules XXIX and XXXI, including the confidentiality of information shall apply to any information and to the conduct of any debate transacted.

Well the first reason that there isn't much to say about rule 21 is that there's not much to it. The second reason is clause 2, which states that everything that goes on under the cover of rule 21 is off limits to discussion outside of the Senate. Most people are calling this a "stunt", and you know what, it pretty much is. But this is a stunt pulled with the best of intentions. The Democrats did not feel that the investigation currently underway in the Senate which was gathered to look at how the administration used prewar intelligence was not going foreword. This is directly tied into the CIA Leak investigation and after the headlines were stolen by the nomination of Judge Alito. This "stunt" brings the focus back onto the case for war. It's great that the Dems showed some spine. I'm not sure when the last time that I heard "democratic leadership" and "Senate" in the same sentence but even if the President is proved to have purposefully misled people, the Senators are still saying that they would have signed the authorization form. It's about time for them to really step up to the plate and offer a real opposition party. Sources: (1) Roberts blasts closed session 'stunt' CNN - November 2 (2) Senate Rule 21 - Senate.gov