Today, Congress was again crushed by its long-time foe. Its attempts to get to the bottom of the CIA leak that outed Valerie Plame, sunk “Scooter” (a.k.a. Fall Guy) Libby and pointed to Vice President Dick Cheney, failed.
On July 12, 2008 the president dismissed congressional claims to information as old news. He said:
“It’s run its course. Now we’re going to move on.”
Congress wasn’t satisfied. And so today the White House invoked the trump card, EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE, which ostensibly means that one white house can override two houses of any size.
So now, for the umpteenth time, the undisputed champion of the Washington Mall is (drum roll please) President George “Lame Duck” Bush!
Of course, this fight has been brewing for a while. And Congress has caved every round. Consider November 1, 2007 when Congress refused to approve Bush appointee Michael Mukasey as Attorney General. The Associated Press chronicled Bush’s response:
Bush accused Congress of stalling important pieces of the fight to prevent new terrorist attacks by: dragging out and possibly jeopardizing confirmation of Michael Mukasey as attorney general, a key part of his national security team; failing to act on a bill governing eavesdropping on terrorist suspects; and moving too slowly to approve spending measures for the Iraq war, Pentagon and veterans programs.
Bush took a tough stand by adding that if Congress failed to approve Mukasey, “That would guarantee that America would have no attorney general during this time of war.” Congress, of course, approved Mukasey. It also approved war funding, as it has every year, and recently has provided immunity for telecommunications companies that have cooperated with the Bush administration’s illegal domestic spying.
Today, it is Mukasey who is a stalwart defender of the White House.
Consider also the battle between Congress and the White House when House members subpoenaed White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and White House Counsel Harriet Meiers to testify regarding their knowledge of the firings (in 2006) of federal prosecutors. Bush told them to simply ignore Congress. They did. That enraged Nancy Pelosi, who demanded the lame Mukasey to do something. She wrote in a letter to Mukasey:
“Surely, your department would not tolerate that type of action if the witness were subpoenaed to a federal grand jury. Short of a formal assertion of executive privilege, which cannot be made in this case, there is no authority that permits a president to advise anyone to ignore a duly issued congressional subpoena for documents.”
Of course, Bush invoked executive privilege. And Mukasey did nothing.
The House voted 223-32 to hold Bolten and Meiers in contempt on March 14, 2008. Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla) said:
“No one is immune from accountability and the rule of law, not Harriet Miers or Josh Bolten, and especially not President Bush or Vice President Cheney.”
Of course, those were merely empty words spewed by losers. Such false bravado fell on deaf ears at the champion’s Oval Office. The White House told the press that the Justice Department would not ask the U.S. Attorney to pursue House contempt charges. (Note that the White House is speaking to the press on behalf of the Justice Department — presumably a separate branch of government created for balance).
The White House did, however, have some words of its own for Congress. Spokeswoman Dana Perino issued a statement:
“This action is unprecedented, and it is outrageous. It is astonishing and deeply troubling that after months of delay on passing a bill that will help our intelligence professionals monitor foreign terrorists who want to kill Americans, the House has instead turned its attention to the silly, pointless, and unjust act of approving these contempt resolutions. If Democrats bring suit to press the contempt charges they will be met with opposition at the courthouse door and at every step of the way.”
If one were watching this fight in successive rounds, rather than over months and years, it would be crystal clear who is winning. It would also be quite clear who to believe when words are exchanged. The White House has every intention of cutting Congress off at its knees. It has no intention of cooperating with any congressional subpoena, contempt charge, investigation or any demands made by the people’s representatives.
Conversely, Congress, which voted (251-166) on June 11, 2008 to send 35 articles of impeachment to the House Judiciary Committee for consideration, has no intention of impeaching Bush or representing the tens of millions of Americans who oppose the war, oppose Bush economic policies and want a change in the Commander in Chief immediately.
The media, which is beset with downsizing, consolidations, dismissals of valuable newsroom staff and a host of related problems that have severely impacted its ability to be the careful government watchdog it was commissioned to be by the Constitution, quietly ushered Rep. Dennis Kucinch’s (D-OH) impeachment attempt into the trash heap of interior page briefs that seldom ever make it to the spotlight. It was the media that immediately dismissed Kucinich before Congress had a chance to.
And it was the media that laid claim to the notion that 251 members of the House voting in FAVOR of articles of impeachment was not worthy to write a story about nor place on the front page. The House Judiciary Committee apparently has the job of killing the impeachment process if it doesn’t suit the will of the Democratic leaders.
The will of the American people be damned.
But don’t worry. The rest of this year, and likely well into the next, Congress will get a much-deserved ass whuppin’ by that lame duck in the White House. And while House leaders sit on their hands and do nothing except the bidding of Bush, the American people are starting to wake up and join the fight.
The Democrats had better wake up as well, or come November they may find themselves getting pushed out of the ring by the same folks who put them there … the American people.
Of course, if you ever have need of going into battle against Congress, you can’t go wrong by teaming up with Dubya. And don’t forget his dad was once the head of the CIA (HELLO!) and in the White House for 12 years.
