When Goals Meet Reality: Executive Privilege Reversal

[kskiska]

WASHINGTON, March 30 — When George W. Bush and Dick Cheney took office three years ago, they made no secret of their intention to restore presidential powers and prerogatives that they believed had withered under the onslaught of Washington's cycle of televised, all-consuming investigations.

But time and again, that effort by the Bush White House has fallen victim to political reality. It did so once more on Tuesday, when the president made a four-minute appearance in the White House press room to announce that he was giving in to demands from the 9/11 commission that he had resisted for months.

His decision to reverse course, dropping his claim of executive privilege preventing public, sworn testimony by his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, was part of a distinct pattern that has emerged inside this highly secretive White House.

The first reaction to most demands for outside inquiries, or for details about energy policy decisions or intelligence concerning Iraqi weapons or Nigerian uranium, has been to build walls: Mr. Bush, or more often Mr. Cheney in his stead, asserts a clear, inviolate principle that the president and his advisers need the freedom to gather information, develop policy and exchange ideas in private.

(snip)

"It was only in the last few days, down at the ranch, that the president began to think that the public wasn't getting the right impression about our cooperation with the commission," one of Mr. Bush's most influential advisers, Dan Bartlett, his director of communications, said Tuesday. "It was a debate all about process, and he wanted to shift it back to the substance."

more…
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/31/politics/31ASSE.html?hp

[Zhade]

1. HA! Take that, Zell Miller, you fucking idiot!

His boy b*sh is dropping his objections to Rice testifying - that ought to shut Miller's treasonous mouth!

[DenverDem]

2. The only thing that will shut Zell's treasonous mouth is

the guillotine.

Storm the Bastille!

[Cronus Protagonist]

3. It's a cover up

The real news is that Bush will not testify. He's going to have Cheney to field the adult questions. And they will not be under oath and there will be no recording of their answers other than a reporter with a notepad (no stenographer, even).

Let's keep the eye on the ball here... Look at how the story came out and as part of the "negotiations" about Condi, when they were really arranging the Bush interview. Bush won't testify. He won't go under oath. He won't be alone and their answers won't be filmed or recorded.

Clever PR work here, but if you look closelt you can see the disjointed stories as they try to bury the Bush info under Condi's cover. Slick magic work...

Check out the WP's convoluted attempt to bury the Bush story inside the Condi story....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37465-2004Mar30_2.html

I'm just wondering if the Condi story was all a plan to raise the issue to use as a container for the Bush bombshell. After all, why was Condi refusing to testify when she was on the box all the time anyway? So there would be a cover story for Bush.... makes sense, right?

Or do I need to take the blue pill...



http://brainbuttons.com/home.asp?stashid=13z
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[yltlatl]

4. I didn't pay as much attention back then

How many times did Clinton testify under oath as President?

I have to admit how naive I am: I was shocked when I heard that they didn't even have a transcription of snake woman's closed-door testimony.

[DeepModem Mom]

5. From the WP -- mention of a 9/11 families' statement:

"The families of several Sept. 11 victims had increased pressure on the White House by calling on Rice to testify after they hailed Clarke's public apology to them. The Family Steering Committee, a group that advocated the commission's formation, said in a statement that the restrictions demanded by Gonzales could hinder the commission's ability to pose follow-up questions and to share the results with the public."

It's infuriating, especially keeping these families in mind, that the Bush administration is so successful, with the full cooperation of the press, in hiding their true motives and intent.