-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: March 21, 2007 4:27:48 PM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: President's "Constitutional Right to COVER UP"
"Taken to its logical extreme, [executive privilege] would make it
impossible to hold a chief executive accountable for anything.
"[The president] would have a constitutional right to cover up."
Tony Snow Backs 'Executive Privilege' Now -- But OPPOSED It for
Bill Clinton
Editor and Publisher, March 21, 2007
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?
vnu_content_id=1003560724
NEW YORK With the crisis over the firing of eight U.S. attorneys
mounting, President Bush and his spokesman Tony Snow have roundly
embraced the concept of "executive privilege" to deny Congress and
testimony and documents from key White House insiders. But Snow was
singing a different tune during the Clinton era, when a president
claimed the same during the Lewinsky scandal.
Glenn Greenwald, who now blogs for Salon, has located a Snow column
in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch from March 29, 1998, back in his
days as a newspaper pundit. Snow wrote then:
"Evidently, Mr. Clinton wants to shield virtually any
communications that take place within the White House compound on
the theory that all such talk contributes in some way, shape or
form to the continuing success and harmony of an administration.
Taken to its logical extreme, that position would make it
impossible for citizens to hold a chief executive accountable for
anything. He would have a constitutional right to cover up.
"Chances are that the courts will hurl such a claim out, but it
will take time.
"One gets the impression that Team Clinton values its survival more
than most people want justice and thus will delay without qualm.
But as the clock ticks, the public's faith in Mr. Clinton will ebb
away for a simple reason: Most of us want no part of a president
who is cynical enough to use the majesty of his office to evade the
one thing he is sworn to uphold -- the rule of law."
At his press briefing today, Snow was asked about all this. The
exchange follows.
*
Q So Tony, back when President Clinton was citing executive
privilege to keep internal deliberations in that White House from
being talked about in Congress, you wrote now famously that --
MR. SNOW: I'm glad it was famous. I didn't get that kind of
coverage at the time. (Laughter.)
Q It's become more famous --
MR. SNOW: Oh, is it making its way through the left-wing blog?
Q It is.
(Laughter.)
Q No, no. But you spoke -- you wrote quite eloquently about this.
You said, "Taken to its logical extreme, that position would make
it impossible for citizens to hold the chief executive accountable."
MR. SNOW: Right.
Q "We would have a constitutional right to a cover-up."
MR. SNOW: Right. Now let me --
Q So why were you wrong then and right now?
MR. SNOW: Because you're -- this is a not entirely analogous
situation. I just told you what we have in fact offered to make
available to members of Congress. What we are doing is we are
holding apart confidential communications between advisers and the
president, and that is pretty standard practice in White Houses.
But again --
Q It wasn't with the Clinton administration.
MR. SNOW: Well, I'm not so sure. And I'll let others do the legal
arguing on that.
AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's
free from AOL at AOL.com.
www.ctrl.org
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substanceânot soap-boxingâplease! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'âwith its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright fraudsâis used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
<A HREF="http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/";>ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
