Article: Between Iraq and a Hard Place

The day of reckoning for Mr. Bush et al is fast approaching. Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, set to chair the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee when the new Congress convenes in January, has made it clear that the questions being asked by the people of our nation regarding Iraq, torture of detainees, secret prisons and voter fraud, among others, will require some answers beyond those the condescending, evasive, and unchecked executive branch has so far been willing to provide. Senator Leahy has also made it clear that he would rather not have to issue subpoenas to get the information the congress will be seeking, but that he will put them under oath if the administration refuses to cooperate. Senator Leahy: "I expect real answers, or we'll have testimony under oath until we get them. We're entitled to know these answers, and in many instances we don't get them because people are hiding their mistakes. And that's no excuse." Mistakes, such a civilized way of putting things like war crimes. I wonder if Bush et al were really naïve enough to think they could keep their dirty little secrets under wraps indefinitely. Clearly that has not happened and now the balance of power has shifted. Without the cover of a Republican majority in Congress who were more than willing to abdicate their oath of defending the constitution, the Bush unilateral executive will now have to face the music all alone. Those who enabled their actions will be watching from the sidelines. The failures of the Republican majority to check this group have been many, none more evident than the redefining of our responsibilities regarding The Geneva Convention having been left to The Supreme Court to decide instead of having been dealt with democratically from inside the law making body itself. The people have spoken and yet the administration seems undaunted in their efforts to prevent our system of checks and balances from being applied to them. The Justice Department seems to think business as usual will be the executive order of the day. That certainly seems to be what Brian Roehrkasse, Justice Department spokesman, seems to be saying in this statement. Brian Roehrkasse: "The department will continue to work closely with the Congress as they exercise their oversight functions, and we will appropriately respond to all requests in the spirit of that longstanding relationship, when making those decisions, it is vital to protect national security information, particularly when they relate to sensitive intelligence programs that are the subject of oversight by the Intelligence Committees. We also must give appropriate weight to the confidentiality of internal executive branch deliberations." Continue to work closely with Congress on oversight? Are you kidding me? These folks really know how to insult a person's intelligence. I am sure the administration would probably like to keep the disturbing reality of Bush attemting to deliberate confidential but it is hardly a national secret, given the fact that the nation and the world is already horrendously aware that is not his stength. So, the Intelligence Committees cannot trust or work with the Judiciary Committee? You never know, those Judiciary folks could be terrorists. Or maybe they might just insist that The President of The United States and his underlings be required to act within the law, unfortunately, Mr. Bush seems to think the two are one in the same. As Posted at The Peace Tree