Senate Intel. Comm. endorses Hayden

I haven't seen this posted yet, sorry if it's old news.  From Yahoo:

Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden's nomination as CIA director won the endorsement of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, setting the stage for his formal confirmation by the full Senate later this week.

The committee voted 12-3 to approve Hayden's nomination after about an hour of closed-door discussion. Eight Republicans and four of the panel's seven Democrats backed him.

More after the flip.

The three Democrats?  Need you ask?  Evan Bayh (Ind.), Russell Feingold (Wis.) and Ron Wyden (Ore.)voted against him.

From WaPo:

"My vote was an objection to the administration's unwillingness to ensure both our physical security and our civil liberties," Bayh said.

Wyden said he also believes that Hayden misled Congress by suggesting the eavesdropping program -- revealed by the New York Times in December -- was the full extent of the highly secret domestic surveillance operation. USA Today recently reported that the NSA also collected millions of phone records from U.S. businesses and homes.

I'm disappointed in Mikulski and Rockefeller, but especially Levin (MI), who said in WaPo:

Levin joined other senators in saying that Hayden, despite his military status, will protect the CIA against power plays by the Pentagon.

"He stood up to Secretary [of Defense Donald H.] Rumsfeld when Secretary Rumsfeld wanted certain intelligence components to stay with the Department of Defense," Levin said.

Did you notice that the Yahoo article has a sub-heading where the privacy issues are listed as "Democrats' Concerns"?  Sigh.  The vote should be on Thursday.

I am finding it hard to believe that so many elected officials are wasting opportunity after opportunity to have a real discussion on oversight.