Where's Karl? Help the HJC do their job!
Sat Jul 19, 2008 at 03:40:12 PM PDT
When Karl Rove refused to appear before the House Judiciary Committee to answer questions, I began to worry that it might be difficult to find him--even if they wanted to. Could it be too late, or even worse, "off the table".
What if he's already in Paraguay? Ah, not to worry. Welcome releif arrived in my email. I was "reassured" to see his pudgy white visage on this cool website They have already collected about 50,000 signatures for the HJC, encouraging them to do their constitutional job and bring him in for a little oathy chat. The website looked legit. Our emptywheel, Marcy Wheeler was there. I signed the petition and wrote the committee a little note of encouragement. Then, fertilized by all the BS from Karl, one more idea blossomed.
Note and idea lie below the fold
Here's the note I sent the HJC:
The Founders said "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal...". Then they proceeded to write a Constitution and set of laws that showed the world in practical terms exactly what they meant. Those amazing documents and the way they were put into practice, served as an example for new democracies around the world. In subsequent years, the careful work of our legislative bodies and the votes of our people, continued to improve our laws by adding women and people of color (other than white) to the group of human beings who must be treated equally under the law.
The United States has always been distinguished by how strongly we value our principle that every individual has equal rights and protections under the law. I have been pleased and proud of how often the principles succeeded in actual practice. We have been distinguished by our ideals from dictatorships and corrupt totalitarian regimes where money or power buy special privileges and exemptions for certain individuals (or companies).
Now, our country stands at a turning point, where we as a nation, and you as our elected representatives decide if we will continue to follow the principle that every person is equally subject to the law. Allowing Karl Rove (and others) to blatantly ignore your legal subpoena to appear before a committee of Congress, is an assault on the foundation of our democracy. Tolerating his scofflaw behavior makes the Congress look impotent, and it hurts every single one of us.
So, Dear Committee Members, it is not simply a matter of choosing whether or not to enforce your subpoenas by any means possible. That is a very narrow view of dealing with Mr. Rove's shenanigans. It seems to me that your choice is really much larger and more personal than that. In deciding how to respond to his flaunting of the law, you are choosing whether you will fulfill your sacred oath of office and give your maximum effort to defend and protect the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, both foreign and domestic. And certainly any individual, particularly a public figure, who scoffs at your committee and refuses even to come and talk with you is a threat to our government of law.
(edited slightly for clarity of meaning)
And if you let him get away with it, you are a danger too, and should be voted out of office at the next election.
I was strongly tempted to add that final sentence, but ultimately didn't. It seemed to me that ending with a threat would decrease the chance of the committee doing the right thing, (if we have any influence on them at all).
IDEA: If the HJC decided to bring Karl in under arrest, might they have trouble finding him? Wouldn't it be satisfying to turn him in? Who would you call to report spotting a Rovebird, soon to be jailbird.
Peach!
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