It is no longer a case of assuming that the Bush Administration will circumvent the legislative branch and the Constitution when Democrats put Harriet Miers in contempt of Congress for not testifying. An anonymous Op-Ed in the Washington Post today by a senior Bush official signaled that they would not allow the Justice Dept to file charges against Miers or anyone 'protected' by the White House when Congress requests it.
From RawStory:
Under law, a contempt citation by the House or Senate must be submitted to Washington, D.C. US attorney, who then brings the charge to a grand jury.
"It has long been understood that, in circumstances like these, the constitutional prerogatives of the president would make it a futile and purely political act for Congress to refer contempt citations to U.S. attorneys," the anonymous Bush official added.
George Mason University professor of public policy Mark J. Rozell called the administration's stance "astonishing" in the article.
"That's a breathtakingly broad view of the president's role in this system of separation of powers," Rozell told the reporter. "What this statement is saying is the president's claim of executive privilege trumps all."
And the President believes he trumps all, from Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi to the Constitution and our rule of law. It is obvious that he will stop at nothing to get his ends achieved, even if the means consist of acting as an authoritarian dictator. Meanwhile Harry Reid whines that the President isn't above the law. Well Harry, that's my job and others of us who can type but do not have the power to throw the bastard out of the White House.
Pelosi needs to start bringing charges against him and Reid must collect the votes to convict Bush and Cheney of their crimes against our Republic. If they do not, our democracy is just a pathetic joke.
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