I started writing this a few days ago, when Susan Taylor and Harriet Miers were subpoenaed to testify before the House panel investigating the US Attorney General firings (be warned, this might be the longest, angriest, most-hyperlink-ridden email I've ever spammed you with).
That same day I was told by a friend that the main problem Democrats seem to have is that they're not on message. That is, in the face of repeated wrongdoing and illegality by the Bush Administration, the best they can seem to muster is a hopeless sort of spluttering protest. People just don't understand what's going on, and they're too tired or puzzled to care. Disheartening news, since this came from a fellow Dem, and in 2008 this perception will probably matter more than ever.
My own take on it is that there are quite a few Democrats AND Republicans who would like nothing better than to take the President and his administration to task, but that some of the issues have become so muddled and confusing that the average layperson's eyes roll up into his or her head at the mere mention of any of these topics. It's hard for these issues to get much traction in the MSM, since they require some in-depth analysis, and can't be summed up in a sound bite.
"Democrats need to break it down," is what I was told.
And you know what? I think my friend is right.
And then I started breaking it down, making it understandable, especially this whole bit about "executive privilege." And in the course of one week, so much other stuff happened that I am now writing this goddamn post again, for the fourth time.
So here's my attempt at breaking it down. Here's why I am so perpetually worked up. Here is what a great many people are not seeing, or are turning away from because it's "too complicated" or because they believe that the President is Emperor, as opposed to a temporary (and replaceable) head of one of three branches of government, and bound by checks and balances outlined in the Constitution. *
Anyway, the affront to the laws of our land (and which spurred me to write this diatribe) that no one noticed happened when Harriet Miers and Susan Taylor were subpoenaed by Congress to appear.
And our President ordered them not to appear. He cited "executive privilege." **
Sounds logical enough, right? I mean, he can do that, can't he?
No, he can't. Executive privilege does NOT extend to preventing any private individual, even a White House senior official, from testifying before Congress. They must appear. They do not have to answer all questions put before them. But ignoring the subpoena is contempt of Congress. It's similar to not showing up to court when you've been subpoenaed.
The administration is banking on the fact that there is not a clear majority in Congress to press that charge; that no one in the House or Senate has the stomach for this kind of fight right now. So once again, they hope the Law will not apply to the Guy In Charge. And the administration is BANKING ON YOUR IGNORANCE. It wants no uproar over this. Nancy Pelosi reads the prevailing winds well.
If you think this is an isolated incident, not worth dwelling upon, let me help you remember a few points. This President and his senior staff have made some remarkable moves lately:
1. Way back a few years Dick Cheney laid claim to executive privilege to keep all sorts of things out of the media, including discussions on energy policy with representatives from energy companies. It was his right to keep dealings private.
2. Then a few weeks ago he abruptly changed course and asserted that the Office of the Vice President occupies a singular and unique position in the government, and is not a part of either the Executive Branch or the Legislative Branch. It is both, and therefore neither. And so therefore it is exempt from publicizing what constitutes torture, whether the Geneva Conventions should cover anyone captured in Iraq, whether American citizens can be held without charge or trial, "extraordinary rendition," the redacted commentary of complaints by prisoners at Guantanamo, or their names, or...
2a. (this deserves its own bullet point, even though it's not parallel) that they've mostly been cleared (420 out of 775 have been released without being charged so far. Out of the remaining group, a fifth are slated to be released soon), except for a bunch of underage kids. Those scary terrorists being held in secret to keep you safe? There may be a few terrorists in there, but regardless of guilt or innocence, they're all being held illegally. ***
3. This administration outed Valerie Plame for her husband's work in investigating claims that Iraq was attempting to procure nuclear material in Africa (the impudent upstart!), then tried to cover it up. Then when another guy (Scooter Libby) was convicted of perjury for covering up the administration's role in the fiasco, the President pardoned him out of fear that he'd let loose everything he knew about the coverup. So to wit: they selectively removed the legal anonymity of a CIA agent for political retribution on her husband , then pardoned the guy who was their biggest risk when Congress and the courts cried foul.
4. Now executive privilege is being held up again, to help keep potentially damaging testimony from reaching Congress, and ultimately the ears of the public. This time it's being done so blatantly it's hard to believe, but as usual, the stupider, more illegal, and generally wrong an idea is, the faster the Bush administration jumps on it. And the thing that has made me rewrite this email, now? Pat Tillman.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/07/14/tillman/index.html
You guys remember Pat Tillman, right? Safety for the Arizona Cardinals, turned down a $9 contract to serve in Afghanistan with the Army Rangers? Got killed, in all likelihood by friendly fire? That he was awarded the Purple Heart and Silver Star by senior Army brass for a battle that never happened? I'm not saying Tillman doesn't deserve much honor and respect! He gave up all sorts of opportunities to serve his country, and his country repaid him and his family for the death of their son with some medals offered up hastily to cover up the embarassment of having a high profile soldier die in a friendly-fire incident. As Tillman's own father put it, "After it happened, all the people in positions of authority went out of their way to script this. They purposely interfered with the investigation; they covered it up. I think they thought they could control it, and they realized that their recruiting efforts were going to go to hell in a handbasket if the truth about his death got out. They blew up their poster boy."
And what's this got to do with "executive privilege?"
They're doing it again. That's what. The White House has blocked all investigation into Tillman's death, citing (go ahead, guess...I'll wait...wow, that didn't take long, did it?) executive privilege yet again. Yes. The death of a single soldier in Afghanistan would be covered by executive privilege because...uh...right. IT WOULDN'T! THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NO WAY THIS COULD BE COVERED UNDER EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE!
No. That's not what's going on here. As it turns out, the committee investigating Tillman's death already has documents that reference communication between the White House and the DoD after Tillman's death. The White House directed the DoD to do something after Tillman was shot. You can probably guess what it was. I know I can. Unfortunately, Congress needs some kind of prima facie evidence, no matter how damning the supporting evidence may be, and the White House has played its tired, stupid, meaningless trump card yet again.
"Executive privilege," my ass.
Well. You've read this far, and either you think I'm just another "worked-up liberal" who should settle down so the fucknuts can go back to work disassembling 231 years of hard-won freedoms and replacing them with their own self-serving brand of total bullshit...or else you've maybe entertained a thought or two like this, yourself.
If you're in the latter category, I'm going to demand that you do something. It's not very big. Here's what you can do:
Call your Congressman! Don't know who they are? Don't have the phone number? Follow this link, and now you do. Really, do it. It's a good exercise, for those of you who are citizens and can claim representation.
This time, think it over a little more carefully before casting that ballot. If you're a Dem, give some money to the Democrats. If you're a Rebpublican, for the love of God, at least support a non-retarded Republican for a change. In 2008, don't vote on something so vague as "he seems trustworthy," or "he seems decisive," or "he sure does look like he'd be fun to get wasted with." This time, do some analysis. Look at voting records, look at a candidate's background, at his or her history on health-care, the military, arts, social reforms, economic policy, welfare, whatever it is that makes you get up in the morning. Vote on that. Figure out what being a leader really means, because it's not about "staying the course" when the course you've chosen has gone so ridiculously wrong that you can't find your way back anymore, and the best option is to hand it off to another administration to figure out as best as it can. When does the impact of an illegal war; hundreds of thousands of dead people; complete incompetance ; a total lack of accountability or transparency; blatantly ignoring, overriding and removing systemic checks and balances declared in the Constitution, and protecting his cronies in the face of criminal prosecution while cowering behind weak-ass excuses like "executive privilege" finally raise the collective ire of America to the point that the House Minority leader doesn't mind raising impeachment charges, too? It's time for a change. And the earlier this ball gets rolling, the better.
Get to work. Forward this on (or write your own and forward that on, I don't care). Get on people's nerves. This government is supposed to be by the people, for the people...not by the rich, for the crazy people who don't care. That means you and I get to have a say, no matter if the people in power don't want us to. So even if we don't agree on things like religion or abortion rights or immigration policy, we should at least be able to agree that the President and his underlings should still be held accountable by the law, and by the workings of the government. That's why I'm saying, send this on to someone who normally wouldn't do anything, and then do something yourself!
That's pretty much it. It's July 15th, it's two weeks after our nation's 231st birthday. It's not the anniversary of anything special today. It's just another day in America, except that it's another day in America where more disturbing stuff is coming to life than I can quietly stomach without saying something, and without getting very angry about. I've simmered and stewed over this for almost 7 years now, in one form or fashion. And it's a beautiful Sunday afternoon outside. I'm going to hit the pool.
Y'all have a good one.
-Salil
**Well, that was how it was supposed to work, anyway. You guys remember the Constitution, right? If not, you can find it here .The great thing about viewing it and reading it online is that none of the tatters or shredding that have happened to it over the last 7 years are visible at all. Who's still got the hottest Constitution? America, baby! Anyway, it's got all kinds of stuff in it that you should read up on from time to time.
**For those of you who still care, Executive Privilege means that the President has broad sweeping authority over matters internal to the running of his office, and can obfuscate or simply not reveal discussions or advice that relate to Presidential decision-making. Nixon tried to use Executive Privilege to cover up tapes that contained discussions of Watergate; ultimately it went before the Supreme Court, which found against him, and he resigned in disgrace. If you think I'm being too partisan or left-leaning in this, consider that in 1997, the Supreme Court rejected President Clinton's claim of executive immunity from a sexual harassment suit by Paula Jones, too. Fair is fair. Executive privilege has its place in government, but it's not to keep the daily workings of the government away from the eyes of the public.
***For further reading, just hit Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detention_camp What you haven't read may shock you. If you dig deeper at all, you will probably wind up very disturbed, both by what's going on right under our noses, and how easy it is to conceal stuff from the American public and the MSM.
