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If not Harman or Hastings, Who?

It turns out Glenn Greenwald was right on at least one thing about the Pelosi-Harman fight: "Pelosi need not select Hastings if she rejects Harman." Reportedly, Pelosi has decided that neither Jane Harman nor Alcee Hastings will chair the House Intelligence Committee. So who ought to get the job? In reply to an earlier post, a commenter suggested:

The obvious alternative to Harman or Hastings is Rush Holt. According to his website:

Rep. Holt earned his B.A. in Physics from Carleton College in Minnesota and completed his Master’s and Ph.D. at NYU. He has held positions as a teacher, Congressional Science Fellow, and arms control expert at the U.S. State Department where he monitored the nuclear programs of countries such as Iraq, Iran, North Korea, and the former Soviet Union. From 1989 until he launched his 1998 congressional campaign, Holt was Assistant Director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, the largest research facility of Princeton University and the largest center for research in alternative energy in New Jersey. He has conducted extensive research on alternative energy and has his own patent for a solar energy device. Holt was also a five-time winner of the game show “Jeopardy.”

Sounds about right to me. Plus, he voted against getting us into this Iraq mess, which these days counts as an added plus in my book. To be sure, I disagree with his current cut and run position (excuse me, he calls it "an immediate, phased withdrawal"), but even so it'll be good to have a smart, skeptical voice running this key committee to act as part of the checks and balances that make our system work.