Judge Hints At Congress To Arrest Bushies

Our Congress has been absolutely horrific this session (and the last few as well) in playing its role as a co-equal branch of government. In the Constitution, it states that Congress is allowed to conduct oversight of the Executive Branch, but Democratic leaders have been hesitant about doing so when the White House skirts the law and throws roadblocks up to discovering the truth of their crimes. Instead of going for the throat, the Dem majority has only mustered limited effort and tries to shield itself from criticism (from the lawbreakers) by going to a judge to make Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten, among others, testify to Congress. Well the judge hasn't ruled yet, but his statement thus far speaks volumes.

From TPM:

In a motion hearing in federal court today, U.S. District Judge John Bates questioned why Congress didn't simply arrest former White House counsel Harriet Miers and Chief of Staff Josh Bolten after both refused to respond to subpoenas issued by the House Judiciary Committee:

Congress has the authority to hold someone in contempt, U.S. District Judge John Bates said. Did it really need to go to court? House counsel Irvin Nathan said it did.

The hearing is the latest in an ongoing battle between Congress and the White House, to have senior aides testify about the U.S. attorney firings.

The Bushies are doing whatever they can to wait out the end of the term so they can hopefully fly under the radar. Sternly written letters may be threatening the first time, but after Congress writes dozens of them, no one seems to care. Now if they use actual force and arrest these crooks (alleged crooks of course) then that could actually do something. Claiming Executive Privilege is a bullshit maneuver and everyone knows it, Congress is just too cowardly to do anything about it.

Wexler Threatens Inherent Contempt On Karl Rove

The Constitution states that we have three co-equal branches of government, but Bush's White House doesn't see it that way. Now the Congress must exert its power and hold Karl Rove and others accountable for their actions. Will they take the necessary steps to bring these criminals to justice? Time will only tell....and how much time it takes is just as important.

White House: "We Are Above The Law"

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.