I Was Against Presidential Privilege Before I Was for It

[babylonsister]

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20070323_i_was_against_presidential_privilege_before_i_was_for_it/

I Was Against Presidential Privilege Before I Was for It

Posted on Mar 23, 2007

By E.J. Dionne

WASHINGTON—The senator vigorously rejected the president’s claim of executive privilege. “I find this extraordinary and troublesome,” he said, “and I think it will ultimately be damaging to the president. ... This is an attempt to stonewall our committee, and the public will be outraged.”

Doesn’t that sound like one of those tough statements by Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York, the Democratic point man on the U.S. attorney scandal? The speaker was actually the Republican Schumer defeated nine years ago, Alfonse D’Amato, discussing Bill Clinton’s invocation of executive privilege in the Whitewater investigation.

So many principles that Republicans held dear when they were trying to take Clinton down are no longer operative. This certainly applies to a 1998 column now whizzing around the Internet that ran under the headline “Executive Privilege is a Dodge.” It was written by Tony Snow, who is now Bush’s press secretary.

To investigate Clinton—even his Christmas card list—was God’s work. To investigate Bush is “to head down the partisan road of issuing subpoenas and demanding show trials,” as the president put it this week.

Bush is nothing if not shrewd. By trying to recast the controversy as a partisan catfight, the president has temporarily diverted attention from the central issues in this inquiry: whether any of the eight fired U.S. attorneys were asked to step down for political reasons; whether political aides in the White House played an important role in the firings; and whether replacing independent-minded prosecutors was a way of influencing ongoing or future investigations.

In the broadest sense, this is about whether the Bush administration has illegitimately politicized the justice system.

more...

[orpupilofnature57]

1. Ambiguous reasoning is their biggest ploy ,no allegiance to the Truth.

Liquid logic

[robinlynne]

2. babylonsister, you're batting 100 this week.

I think it's 100; don't really know about sports. maybe it's 1000.

[babylonsister]

3. To me, this is challenging and interesting. Thanks, robinlynne. nt

[robinlynne]

4. me too. I read all the DOJ documents. I so want change to happen!