The Political Chase

Cheney Linked to Detainee Abuse

Yesterday on NPR, Lawrence Wilkerson alleged a direct link between the Veep and detainee abuse.

Listen to the broadcast:

WMP    Real

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Ney Supoenaed in Abramoff Case

Oops! Entangled in the web just a bit more. Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-OH) has been subpoenaed in the Abramoff case. Ney notified Congress yesterday (House rules require notification) and has denied any wrongdoing.  Well, at least he and Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX), both compadres of Mr. Abramoff, are singing the same tune.

Are Ohio judges elected or nominated?

For additional information, visit Tom DeLay’s House of Scandal.

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Alito and Executive Power

I wrote some time ago about the notion that President Bush might need a little influence within the Supreme Court during these “bad weeks.” He was not successful in getting his compadre Harriet Miers on the bench. Second choice, Samuel Alito, is obviously more qualified experience wise, but how much does ideology fit into the mix rather than selection of a non-biased jurist? A few items for consideration. Consider how many times the president and the vice president have refused to accommodate Congress. You decide.

Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. once said that a Supreme Court decision upholding the creation of an independent counsel “hit the doctrine of separation of powers about as hard as heavyweight champ Mike Tyson usually hits his opponents.”

Alito’s remarks, delivered as an introduction to a 1989 debate sponsored by the conservative Federalist Society, offer a window into his thinking on the separation of powers, an issue that the Supreme Court regularly wrestles with but that seldom came up during Alito’s 15 years as a federal appellate judge.

The post-Watergate law, which has lapsed, permitted the judiciary to appoint independent counsels to investigate high-ranking executive branch officials. It cleared the way for investigations into the Reagan administration’s Iran-contra scandal as well as President Bill Clinton and Monica S. Lewinsky.

Alito said the 1988 ruling upholding the law undercut several important doctrines that had protected presidential power “from congressional pilfering.”

Alito’s views on presidential power are significant on several fronts, not the least of which is what deference the chief executive should getto [sic] conduct anti-terrorism efforts, legal analysts said. President Bush has claimed the right to try foreign terrorism suspects before military tribunals, an issue that may come before the Supreme Court this term.
The 7 to 1 ruling upholding the independent counsel law was written by then-Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and seen as a blow to the Reagan administration.

The decision, Alito said, meant that any alleged infringements on the president’s power “would be judged by whether, in the court’s subjective view at the time, the encroachment went too far.”

Hail to the Chief

President Bush is greeted again with flowers and rose petals.

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Just one minute…

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) had to invoke Rule 21, resulting in a closed session of the Senate, to get Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) off his duff and force the Senate Intelligence Committee to do the work promised one and a half years ago. The committee has delayed investigating the administration’s justification of the war in Iraq based on claims of WMDs resulting “in mushroom clouds.”

Senator Roberts seems to have developed an acute case of selective memory like other Republicans, such as Scooter Libby, Karl Rove and Dick Cheney.

The panel’s chairman, Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), issued a statement saying that he is “ready to roll up his sleeves and get going” and that “the real test for the minority will be for them to show up on Tuesday, ready to do the important national security work that has been asked of them.”

For now, we won’t go into Sen. Robert’s successful efforts to eliminate any reference to the administration’s WMD cover up in the committee’s Phase I report or his close association with the Veep.

White House Teaching Ethics 100

The White House has decided to offer Ethics 100 for all White House staffers. (ed. note. – remember, 100 level courses are remedial courses usually offered to college freshmen that are not ready for the first level course, 101, in a curriculum).

President Bush has ordered White House staff to attend mandatory briefings beginning next week on ethical behavior and the handling of classified material after the indictment last week of a senior administration official in the CIA leak probe.

Simply amazing. This is without doubt, the joke of the week (year). Who exactly will teach this course? The Washington Post says the White House counsel’s office will conduct the classes. First, there is no one in a senior position left that befits the role due to historical misdeeds and second, a bunch of lawyers are going to teach ethics?

Let’s stop and take a look at this for a moment.  Scooter Libby is accused of high crimes, and most senior administration officials are the subject of a criminal investigation or an inquiry by an Inspector General (IG); ironically, even some of the IGs have been charged with criminal activity themselves. And, the president’s first remedial action is to offer a class on ethics, much the same as a person charged with speeding must attend a driver’s training class?

Now, I find this graf to be particularly interesting:

Bush expects all White House staff to adhere to the "spirit as well as the letter" of all ethics laws and rules. As a result, "the White House counsel’s office will conduct a series of presentations next week that will provide refresher lectures on general ethics rules, including the rules of governing the protection of classified information."

Does that mean the president will be required to attend since he has forgotten (uh-hum…retracted) his 2000 campaign promise regarding integrity in his administration. Is that not a classic example of "do what I say do, not what I do?"

All that notwithstanding, let’s put some real meat in "the spirit as well as the letter.” This president has the unmitigated gall, the chutzpah, to issue an edict, with that qualification, yet refuses to acknowledge “the spirit” himself.

Terra firma to President Bush – it’s time to land now. Do we need to have Daddy get you out of the clouds or can you do it by yourself?  Remember where you are and what you are supposed to be doing; you are not in traffic court and you are not running the Skull and Bones Society.