Did George Bush Push His Luck?
Writing by Marq on Tuesday, 20 of March , 2007 at 8:43 pm
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I was in the car on the way home so I listened to our “President” in his “I am King, you are not allowed to ask me or my people anything” speech. As I was hearing the speech and I kept saying to myself, “Who the hell told him this was a good idea?”
Bush took about 15 mins to basically tell the Democrats that he dares them to ask questions. What is perplexing is that in one breath he says that he and his advisers have done nothing wrong, yet in the very next breath exclaims that he will not allow advisers to testify under oath, or with a transcript, and in fact the full committee cannot even be present. It begs the question, if was so aboveboard, and why the paranoia and secrecy? Seriously folks it is almost comical how out of place each and every sentence was his speech. The credibility of this administration is nill, to go on television and tell the American people that everything is okay and that we should “trust him” is absurd.
The Republicans in the House and Senate who will soon stand for reelection must have buried their heads in their hands with embarrassment, and it was only because I was driving that I did not do the same.
Fortunately for the American people it looks like the Democrats are going to call his bluff. Senator Leahy has already rejected the terms the Bush administration set out. Further it looks like Bush has only stirred the hornets nest because Senator Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee called a meeting this evening to discuss their own subpoenas of White House officials.
Bush’s logic is the constitution allows him and those that work for him to literally commit murder and no one from the other branches of government should be allowed to investigate. Using this logic Karl Rove could literally drink 10 bottles of vodka, get into a car, and drive it through a crowd of people, killing 200, and the police would have no right to arrest, him nor the judiciary a right to try him, or the Congress to even question him because of the separation of powers clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Repeatedly Bush said, “separation of powers”, but in fact the Republicans strategy to ride Clinton’s acts for the better part of six years may have backfired on them because on no less than 47 occasions did White House officials testify in front of in the Republican-led Congress.
ThinkProgress has done a great job debunking this Bush talking point
But in reality, there is no such precedent. According to the Congressional Research Service, under President Clinton, 31 of his top aides testified on 47 different occasions. The aides who testified included some of Clinton’s closest advisors:
Harold Ickes, Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff - 7/28/94
George Stephanopoulos, Senior Adviser to the President for Policy and Strategy - 8/4/94
John Podesta, Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary - 8/5/94
Bruce R. Lindsey, Assistant to the President and Deputy Counsel to the President - 1/16/96
Samuel Berger, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs - 9/11/97
Beth Nolan, Counsel to the President - 5/4/00
In contrast, between 2000 and 2004, Bush allowed only one of his closest advisers, then-Assistant to the President for Homeland Security Tom Ridge, to appear in front of Congress. He has also refused three invitations from Congress for his aides to testify, a first since President Richard Nixon in 1972. Clinton did not refuse any.
Technorati Tags: AG, Bush, embarrassment, full committee, house judiciary committee, i am king, Rove, senator leahy, subpoenas, White houseShare This
Category: Failed Presidency, Right Wing Hypocrisy, Republican Culture of Corruption, Breaking the Law
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