The encroachment upon open government and voter driven democracy by Presidents has accumulated since the early 1800's. It has reached, however, such blatant unconstitutional and illegal proportions under the George W. Bush administration, as to warrant Congressional challenge on the constitutional principles of balance of power and checks and balances.

Not since Pres. Nixon's use of executive power for politically motivated law breaking as in the Watergate break-in and invasion of privacy, has a president so blatantly and completely violated American law, and attempted to cloak such acts in secrecy while defending their actions under executive authority and privilege. Pres. Bush clearly and demonstrably violated laws including FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act), and American laws on torture and inhumane treatment of prisoners via treaty.

The abuse of signing statements, originally intended to clarify for enforcement purposes, laws which were vague or unclear in their enforcement provisions, have reached the point that laws are entirely ignored and unenforced by the oval office for expedience and preference. Quite literally, the use of signing statements, as precedent established under the Bush administration, has flung open the door for future presidents to establish dictatorship in America.

This is not interpretation, nor partisan speculation. This is a fact, that the power garnered by the cumulative expansion of executive power and privilege create a role of president that is above the law, above reproach by the U.S. Congress, and beyond the reach of the Judiciary's power to rein in a president who attempts to establish a military dictatorship based on a president's definition of a national emergency. To be clear, President Bush has not gone this far, but, his expansion of executive power and privilege have made this possible by precedent.

Such expansion of power and precedent established in the Bush administration to deny oversight and accountability by Congress represents a crisis in our Constitutional system. For the President and his staff to reject demands by Congress and the Judiciary for enforcement of laws by the Justice Department establishes the potential for a president to declare a national emergency, and for all intents and purposes, completely render the Congress and Courts, and thereby the American people, irrelevant.

The Executive Branch officials must not be permitted to thumb their noses at the Judiciary and Congress as Karl Rove has in defying subpoena by Congress to testify, using the President's assertion of executive privilege. In reality, Mr. Rove and President Bush are thumbing the nose at American democracy, and the American people for whom the laws and Constitution were written to protect.

Bresnahan's characterization of this hearing as little more than Democrats and one former Republican (Bob Barr) bashing the Bush administration, grossly minimizes the importance and relevance of these hearings for American freedom and democracy.

(Editor's Note: This article was written by David R. Remer, but, is appropriate for discussion in this Dems column, until we have more Democrat/Liberal writers.)

Writer:   PW Mgr. on July 25, 2008 11:50 AM