Advisers expect a battle royale over the balance of powers if Democrats use their new subpoena power to try to conduct what the White House is already calling "witch hunts." Bush and Vice President Cheney have made the expansion of executive power one of their hallmarks, and advisers say they do not plan to give up any of the ground they have won without a fight all the way to the Supreme Court. "We're going to have a fierce constitutional showdown over the boundaries of power between the executive and legislative branches," one adviser said. "The executive usually wins those battles, so we think we'll consolidate our gains."
This is no surprise of course. The Bush regime will fight for their self-accrued dictatorial war powers right up to the partisan-packed Supreme Court. They will rail against partisan witch hunts and demonize the Democrats as vengeance-seeking Bush haters.
But this couldn't be further from the truth.
What the Democrats seek to do is bring Constitutional oversight, a patriotic duty shunned by partisan Republican hacks the last several years, back to the legislative branch of advice and consent where the Founders demanded it belong.
It may be too early and counter-productive to shout the "I" word, but it is necessary and responsible to demand accountability for misguided, wrongheaded and failed policies/actions of the Bush misAdministration.
Halliburton, the CIA and big tobacco companies are among the early targets identified by top Democratic staff to ABC News as likely targets for investigation once the Democrats take control of the House at the beginning of next year.
Defense contractors, including Halliburton, the intelligence rationale for the war in Iraq and CIA secret prisons are what one staffer called "uninvestigated scandals."
Frankly, it's the not individual "uninvestigated scandals" but the Constitutional rights of the Congress, eroded by years of enabling Republican rubber-stampers that is at stake. None of these scandals will be investigated because our War-empowered unitary executive believes he is above the Constitution and will claim "executive privilege" and stonewall, deny and withhold the necessary documents required for investigation. This will all be in the courts for years. But it is absolutely necessary for the future of this country that Democrats begin the process.
And, no I don't have much faith in the country club Republican good-old-boy judiciary, but judges are sworn to uphold the Constitution and the Bush regime has made up the rationalization of their executive hegemony out of whole cloth. A magician can give the appearance of really pulling a rabbit out of an empty hat, but it is sleight-of-hand every time and no less true for the prevaricating prestidigitators of the Bush/Cheney cabal.
Put as simply as possible, the Bush regime has used an undeclared war to secure unprecedented war powers to the Executive. These powers are unconstitutional, unlawful and just plain wrong.
In his post-election press conference today, Bush said he wanted to work with the majority Democrats to institutionalize these powers so future presidents will enjoy the same un-American faux war powers to prosecute a war against a word.
This, of course, is unacceptable. The Bush Regime must be held to account and these powers challenged in the courts. The way to do that is to subpoena Executive branch document upon a quest of Constitutional oversight. The Bush/Cheney cabal will decline the offer of oversight. Then the Congress will go to court.
This is an absolutely vital process for the return of our full liberty and a restoration of the balance of power in Washington.
The Republicans, with the credibility and integrity of cartoon mobsters, will shout "witch hunt" and "politics" and "aiding and abetting the enemy." They will try to create reality out of paranoia, guilt and fear of discovery. But the duty of Congress is to demand oversight and investigation into WHAT WENT WRONG.
And by all accounts, as regards the war justification, planning and prosecution of the Iraq debacle - many many things went very very wrong.
Good government requires the Democrats to ask questions and demand answers that failed One Party Republican Rule has willfully, negligently and perhaps criminally ignored.
While Pelosi and others played down investigative inquiries into the mistakes and manipulations of the Bush regime, it is an absolute imperative the Democrats do their duty to God and Country and, though the heavens fall, let justice be done.
There has been too much waste in human life, national prestige and cold, hard taxpayer cash to forgive and forget.
Crossposted from My Left Wing