-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: July 27, 2007 9:25:40 PM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Even If "Stopped" in 2008, It'll Be Back, Stronger and
More Ruthless, for 2012
Congress, Bush and
The Real Constitutional Crisis
Created by glenn_at_rockridge (Rockridge Institute staff member) on
Thursday, July 26, 2007 01:09 PM
http://www.rockridgenation.org/blog/archive/2007/07/26/congress-
bush-and-the-real-constitutional-crisis/?forPrint=1
America is in the midst of an authentic constitutional crisis as
the Bush Administration moves to reduce Congress to little more
than an irrelevant focus group and achieve what no U.S. President
has ever achieved: a true above-the-law presidency.
These are the stakes: Will the United States save what is left of
its constitutional democracy by restoring checks and balances among
the three branches of government?
When the U.S. Supreme Court appointed George W. Bush to the White
House by calling off the Florida recount in 2000, many pundits
applauded the action because it allegedly headed off a
constitutional crisis. That was a phony rationalization that
disguised what is now apparent: the real post-Florida 2000
constitutional crisis is the Bush Administration's unprecedented,
Constitution-destroying lust for power.
The fight should not be measured against partisan positioning for
the 2008 elections. Democratic and Republican political consultants
will view the crisis that way because that is their job.
Consultants are hired to win elections, not save the Constitution.
Congressional Democrats must look past the powerpoints of their
consultants. So should Republicans, who are struggling to distance
themselves from Bush's negatives without asking the White House for
a divorce.
But, there is now no other choice. Bush's drive to place permanent
barriers between the people and their government, to lift the
presidency above all laws, must be stopped.
Earlier this week I wrote about the dangerous cultural narrative
that frames Congress as an inept community. Our hero myths often
include an inept community that must be saved by the lone hero.
This cultural narrative has led to a broadly held view that
Congress is just such a community.
For those Democrats and Republicans in Congress who remain captive
to consultant myopia, I offer this observation. Political experts
criticize Senator John Kerry for failing to adequately counter-
attack the Swift Boaters. Kerry's mistake, however, was that his
campaign behavior undermined his own mythic narrative, the
narrative of a courageous Vietnam war hero. Voters who rejected
Kerry did so not because they believed the Swift Boaters and were
suspicious of his Vietnam valor, but because of the apparent lack
of valor that was happening right before their eyes.
Congress is now being Swift Boated by the Bush Administration.
Americans will judge the valor of Congress, not as presented in ads
in 2008, but as witnessed in real time, right now. Polls are no
doubt suggesting that voters want Congress to address health care
reform and the deteriorating economy. A political fight with Bush
over the constitutional balance of power will look like a
distraction, like politics as usual, like so much partisan
squabbling. Today, it seems that Congress is overcoming that fear
and preparing for the fight. They are moving in the right direction
with the subpoena of Karl Rove and the opening of a perjury
investigation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. We should
applaud these actions, and pray for more.
The Bush gambit is to permanently derail progressive policy goals
by building an impenetrable wall between the people and their
government and by asserting ultimate and absolute presidential
authority. These ambitions are made obvious by the Administration's
actions: Bush's unprecedented veto threats; the obvious "we-don't-
really-care-what-you-think" attitude of Gonzales during his
committee testimony; the Administration's questioning Senator
Hillary Clinton's patriotism when she asked for details of Bush's
Iraq plans; the refusal to disclose details of the Administration's
emergency government plan.
Even a temporary eviction from the White House beginning in 2009
would not deter the neoconservatives and their anti-democratic allies.
A Democratic president will have her/his hands full cleaning up the
Bush garbage. While a Democratic president would probably resist
further steps along the above-the-law path, it's unlikely a
Democratic president will willingly give up <i.e., legally nullify
and prevent use of> the power that has accrued to the presidency
during the Bush reign.
So, the right wing reasons, we'll just pick up in 2012 where we
left off in 2008.
The federal courts, packed with conservative appointments, will
also do what they can to establish permanent barriers between the
American people and their government.
Congress has no choice but to destroy those barriers now. The
crisis cannot be reduced to a messy or selfish partisan
confrontation. Truth is, many Republicans are as interested as
Democrats in saving our constitutional democracy. The further truth
is, the stakes matter much, much more than any potential partisan
consequences for either major party.
In the end, the battle for the future of America may make necessary
the impeachment of a president who is very publicly moving to
destroy our constitutional form of government. It may not seem the
politically prudent thing to do. But this is a president who lied
us into a war, who uses his pen to make laws (constitutionally
reserved for Congress) through signing statements, who commutes the
sentence of a convicted criminal to protect himself from scrutiny,
who believes he has the right to declare anyone he wants an enemy
combatant and then "disappear" that person the way we taught our
tyrannical and thuggish client-state dictators to do during the
Cold War. If these are not sufficient to justify a legal and
constitutional challenge to the legitimacy of the Bush presidency,
exactly what would a president have to do before we would impeach him?
Republicans and Democrats in Congress can look at our predicament
and decide to save their own asses; Democrats running against Bush;
Republicans running from Bush. That would be politics as usual.
Or, they can act fearlessly to save the country, and, despite what
today's polls might tell them, earn the gratitude of voters who
today might be wishing the nightmare will just come to an end. But
the best way to end a nightmare is to wake up.
Congress can interrupt the narrative of its own ineptitude and
restore the dignity and power of a people who are willing to govern
themselves. But to do so, we must be awake to the real
constitutional crisis that is at hand.
Get a sneak peek of the all-new 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/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/
<A HREF="http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/">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