Okay, no more McCaca today. Today's obsession is - Tricky Dick!
Apparently, we're still kicking him around.
Like, perhaps, this?
I'll tell you something: it's not an improvement. Because Cheney learned from Nixon's mistakes: he corrupted the Justice Department immediately upon taking office, and had Bush push through as many right-wing federal judges as possible while the Republics were in the majority.
Now, despite the Democrats' efforts to hold this Administration accountable for clear and obvious criminality, it may be impossible to circumvent all the roadblocks put in place by our new Tricky Dick and his trained monkey. The reason the subpoenas of Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten were not enforced in the first place was that the Justice Department refused to enforce them. The House then filed contempt charges, which the Justice Department again refused to enforce. At that point, the House decided to sue in federal court, and this is where we are.
I just have one eensy request: If we're going to repeat Richard Nixon's greatest hits, can we play my favorite one?
Impeachment?
Apparently, we're still kicking him around.
President Bush's refusal to let two confidants provide information to Congress about fired federal prosecutors represents the most expansive view of executive privilege since Watergate, the House Judiciary Committee told a federal judge Thursday.My goodness. Why in the world would the Bush Administration be so incredibly secretive? Could it possibly be that they are also hiding something nefarious? Not just about the fired attorneys, but about many other things? Things that could be, well, illegal under our Constitution and international law?
Lawyers for the Democratic-led panel argued in court documents that Bush's chief of staff, Josh Bolten, and former White House counsel Harriet Miers are not protected from subpoenas last year that sought information about the dismissals.
The legal filing came in lawsuit that pits the legislative branch against the executive in a fight over a president's powers.
The committee is seeking the testimony as it tries to make a case that the White House directed the firing of nine U.S. attorneys because they were not supportive enough of Republicans' political agenda.
[snip]
"Not since the days of Watergate have the Congress and the federal courts been confronted with such an expansive view of executive privilege as the one asserted by the current presidential administration and the individual defendants in this case," according to the House's filing.
The idea that Miers could disregard an order to appear at a hearing simply at the president's request suggests a return to the sentiment expressed in Nixon's statement, as quoted in a 1977 New York Times interview, that "when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal," the House lawyers wrote.
Like, perhaps, this?
WASHINGTON (AP) — Bush administration officials from Vice President Dick Cheney on down signed off on using harsh interrogation techniques against suspected terrorists after asking the Justice Department to endorse their legality, The Associated Press has learned.We have replaced the paranoid, drunk, dictatorial President Richard Nixon with the paranoid, drunk, dictatorial, warmongering, face-shooting, torturing President Richard Cheney.
The officials also took care to insulate President Bush from a series of meetings where CIA interrogation methods, including waterboarding, which simulates drowning, were discussed and ultimately approved.
I'll tell you something: it's not an improvement. Because Cheney learned from Nixon's mistakes: he corrupted the Justice Department immediately upon taking office, and had Bush push through as many right-wing federal judges as possible while the Republics were in the majority.
Now, despite the Democrats' efforts to hold this Administration accountable for clear and obvious criminality, it may be impossible to circumvent all the roadblocks put in place by our new Tricky Dick and his trained monkey. The reason the subpoenas of Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten were not enforced in the first place was that the Justice Department refused to enforce them. The House then filed contempt charges, which the Justice Department again refused to enforce. At that point, the House decided to sue in federal court, and this is where we are.
I just have one eensy request: If we're going to repeat Richard Nixon's greatest hits, can we play my favorite one?
Impeachment?
3 comments:
I just have one eensy request: If we're going to repeat Richard Nixon's greatest hits, can we play my favorite one?
Unfortunately, that would require an aggressive media, which we no longer have. The media is too busy playing stenographer to actually do some investigative reporting.
Great post yourself ....
An aggressive media...and some principled Republics.
Both are an extinct species these days. :-(
(thanks for the kudos. :-) )
Let's see, you want to torture prisoners, and you own the Justice Dept. Hey presto! Magic letter from the US Justice Dept saying okee-dokee, just don't kill 'em.
These are people who call themselves patriots.
(I just came from Southern House. As always you both have great posts.)
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