Bush upsets delicate system of balance (Coonerty)

[struggle4progress]

March 12, 2006

<snip> Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee last month was a brazen example of just how little the Bush administration cares about the legislative branch. When senators from both parties raised meek questions about how, in the face of clear constitutional law and statutes to the contrary, the administration could authorize warrantless wiretappings of Americans' phones, the attorney general claimed Congress had given them the go-ahead when they authorized the use of military force after Sept. 11. This is the legal equivalent of a husband who's been caught cheating claiming he got permission to stop by his lover's house when his wife asked him to go to the grocery store for milk.

When the Republicans, who sponsored the authorization of force legislation, responded that it was not their intent to give the administration unlimited power, Gonzales quickly dismissed the scorned senators, saying, "The short answer is that we didn't think we needed to , quite frankly."

If cheating on its constitutional partners were not enough, the Bush administration is a commitment-phobe. For five years, lawyers in the Bush administration have refused to commit to our legal system and its rule of law. Terrorist acts are not treated like a crime, thus don't fall under federal law. Nor are terrorist acts considered to be acts of war and therefore subject to treaties and military law. In rejecting both of these approaches and instead choosing to operate in a "gray zone," the administration effectively stripped Congress and the Supreme Court of being partners in the conduct of our national security. <snip>

It appears that Congress, after their initial outrage over the NSA's actions, is going to forgive and try to forget the administration once again. Congress will be content to tinker with federal wiretapping statutes in secret committees rather than stand up and have a full-fledged public debate about national security and civil liberties. If Congress allows the Bush administration to get away with more constitutional bad-boy behavior, we will all suffer from Congress' yearning to gain the affection and respect from a White House that, frankly, doesn't give a damn. Maybe it's time for Dr. Phil to go to Washington.

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2006/March/12/edit/stories/05edit.htm