The Weekly Standard claimed the White House was threatening to close a Nebraska Air Force base to twist Sen. Ben Nelson’s arm on health care reform. Twenty GOP Senators howled for an investigation. The problem: Base Realignment And Closure (BRAC) doesn’t exactly work that way.
An independent commission makes closure recommendations, which Congress has an opportunity to reject. The process is lengthy, high-profile, and defined by built-in mechanisms that prevent just the kind of meddling the conservatives are alleging. And BRAC won’t even make closure decisions for several more years.So the alleged threat would take a long time to execute, would have a low probability of success, and, if found out, would make the White House look far worse than would much easier and immediate forms of pressure. It would be about as effective as threatening to put a hex on Nelson’s dog. It just isn’t plausible. (Emphasis mine)
If it sounds like there’s a small credibility problem there, it’s magnified by the reputation of the author of the Weekly Standard piece in question. You may remember Michael Goldfarb from his amazingly disastrous interview with Rick Sanchez last year:
Now, it seems that John McCain isn’t willing to carry the wingnuts’ water on this nontroversy. Sadly, this attempted smear just isn’t getting traction outside the wingnutosphere.
Now, it seems that John McCain isn’t willing to carry the wingnuts’ water on this nontroversy. Sadly, this attempted smear just isn’t getting traction outside the wingnutosphere.
