WASHINGTON - President Bush, moving toward a constitutional showdown with Congress, asserted executive privilege Thursday and rejected lawmakers' demands for documents that could shed light on the firings of federal prosecutors.
Bush's attorney told Congress the White House would not turn over subpoenaed documents for former presidential counsel Harriet Miers and former political director Sara Taylor. Congressional panels want the documents for their investigations of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' stewardship of the Justice Department, including complaints of undue political influence.
Don't you wish that you could just stick your middle finger up in the face of the system like that? Who are those Congressmen, thinking that their subpoenas carry the force of law or anything so crazy and outlandish? This will be a real test for the Democrats, and one that they will probably end up failing. They really do need to stick to their guns on this one and draft articles of impeachment if Bush continues this game of pretending that he is above the law.
Once again we find ourselves with a pathetic excuse for a leader who has been rendered impeachable by showing contempt for a "minor offense." Conservatives should be finding themselves experiencing a sense of deja vu over this, and agree that Bush should be removed on the principle that he has broken the law.
The reason I find myself largely despising Bush as a man and a leader is that Clinton, who I hold in similar contempt, at least never had the cajones to hold himself above the federal perjury statute. He wiggled and squirmed to manipulate his way out, and in doing so implicitly recognized that he had committed a felony and should have been removed. Bush is simply telling the whole system to kiss his Texas-transplant ass, and that the rules don't apply to him.
Conservatives should be finding themselves experiencing a sense of deja vu over this, and agree that Bush should be removed on the principle that he has broken the law.
They should, but we will see a whole lot of 3Ms protecting him and saying it is just "politically" motivated. But you are right. This is a perfect way for the Republicans to stand up and say, this is the law regardless of what party you claim.
It would also provide them with some much needed moral authority on things like the impeachment of Bill Clinton and future Democrats who should receive the same treatment. The fact is, there is a lot of political motivation to remove Bush. That, however, is not a mitigating circumstance that has any bearing on whether or not he should be punished for breaking the law. As long as we have politics, we'll have political motivations to remove opposition politicians who are in positions of power, so that excuse just doesn't fly with me or anyone else who cares about the rule of (good) law.
Yeah, if any President is ever going to be impeached and removed, then this sort of behavior would be the best catalyst. The odds of Bush getting impeached are still very slim, though.
With any luck, this will set a precedent for Hillary, who will naturally take things too far and humiliate the Congress critters to the point where they have to toss her out in order to save face.
What this will teach Hillery is: don't keep records.
seriously, this is just a fishing expedition.
No laws were broken. None are alleged. Congress is abusing its subpoena power for obvious partisan political motives.
If any American tradition is being trashed, it is the one where the power of the government will not be used to settle personal scores.
There is executive privilege. There is separation of powers. Congress does not oversee the executive branch. Bush is right to ignore this demand by his political enemies. They should win the next election, then they can have all the records they want.
He does seem to play that "privilege" card often.