HOW HARD IS IT TO COMPLY WITH CONGRESS ANYWAY?
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political ActivistWe’ve seen it many times over the past six years since Bush entered office:
Congress demanding that the White House and other elements of our own government turn over material which is instrumental in one common aspect of our democracy: Checks and balances.
And the White House and those various elements are saying: “We have
executive privilege, and that supersedes law and the Constitution.”
Y’know…
Nixon tried the same thing in the 70s–in face of Watergate. It took the ruling of the Supreme Court to say that no sitting President was above the law, and Congress had every constitutional right to have access to the Watergate files.
But Bush is counting on this. In his defense, he’s stacked court justices that would see him as having no
fault of his own–and thus would be able to get away with not turning over documents vital to Congress’s ongoing investigations on a number of fronts.
However, the idea behind not implicating a sitting President (especially a
Republican one), is disastrous for the party whom put them there.
Hence the stonewalling and excuses by government officials.
The sad truth is, is that it took an act of the
people to change course with both Congress and the government.
But Bush and those under him still believe that they have unchecked powers, unchecked flexibility in their roles as representatives of these United States.
Which is why they have been fighting as long as they have.
Once a group has unlimited power, it becomes very difficult to restrain them, or at the very least–reign them in.
Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1 at yahoo.comLabels: Bush, Congress, Constitution, executive privilege, Nixon, unlimited power, US government, Watergate
ADMINISTRATION HAS NO LEG TO STAND ON WITH SUBPOENAS
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political ActivistSince the inception of the US Constitution, Congress has had the constitutional
authority to issue subpoenas on any high-ranking official in the US government suspected of wrongdoing or illegal activities which unjustly profits or politically enhances another’s standing–and imperils the function of the standing administration, by no longer representing the will of the people.
Nixon tried to duck the subpoena issue during Watergate, and Clinton tried the same with the Monica Lewinsky affair. But in both cases, the Supreme Court stepped in and ruled that in both instances–the
government is not above the law.
It had to submit.
Naturally, Bush is trying anyways; claiming that the “act of issuing subpoenas against some of his administration’s highest-ranking officials is
unconstitutional and represents a deliberate attack on the Presidency.”
Unfortunately, Bush was never a student of political history, or otherwise he would’ve already
known that Congress is well within its rights in doing what it‘s done–seeing how he’s foot dragged his way through the matters of the US attorneys being fired long enough; by denying Congress and the people the
truth.
For the last 2 months, Bush has given out only butterball truths, misinformation, contradictions, and so many other distortions about what really went on with the 8 US attorneys being fired for other than “performance issues”, that Congress had no choice in the matter but to issue subpoenas.
In all respect, this is a perfectly
legal and constitutionally
appropriate action for Congress to undertake.
And despite some dwindling attacks by some Republicans in regards to this matter, the Democrats may finally uncover other truths in regards to the matters of government secrecy and the Iraq war–only because Bush no longer has a leg to stand on.
Of course, Bush will say he has a
trump card in regards to how he stacked the Supreme Court in his favor with conservatives willing to back him–and that may be true. But the court may be inclined not to bail the President out in this instance–seeing how politically
weakened he and his administration has become since the November elections.
Let’s hope that this remains true and the people will see that the judicial branch doesn’t serve one man loyally, but the interests of the people as a
whole.
Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1@yahoo.comLabels: Bill Clinton, Bush, Congress, Lewinsky affair, Nixon, politically weakened, subpoenas, Supreme Court, US attorneys, Watergate
