A Nation Of Men, Not Laws

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I'd like to point out this essay from the Seattle P-I, written by guest columnist Linda Boyd (tip of the Generik top hat to my good friend Buffoon for the link), that makes yet another impassioned plea for our Senators and Congressfolk in Washington to do the right thing and take the criminals occupying the highest offices in the land to task for their many high crimes and misdemeanors. I've said it many times before, and I can pretty much promise that I'll say it again, but these guys and gals have broken the damn law, blatantly, flagrantly and repeatedly, and must be held accountable. Otherwise what's the point of having laws? If Dick Cheney and George Bush are allowed to get away with breaking laws and violating the Constitution while in office, what's to stop any future administration from the same -- or even worse?

Here's an excerpt:

"The most conservative principle of the Founding Fathers was distrust of unchecked power. Centuries of experience substantiated that absolute power corrupts absolutely. The Constitution embraced a separation of powers to keep the legislative, executive and judicial branches in equilibrium," Bruce Fein, a constitutional lawyer and associate deputy attorney general in the Reagan administration, said in the October 2006 edition of Washington Monthly.

If Congress were serious about oversight, there already would be dozens of bills and resolutions calling for impeachment of Bush and Cheney. The "Unitary Executive Theory" violates the principle of balance of power in the Constitution. The president cites this "unitary" power in hundreds of signing statements that say he can ignore laws passed by Congress.

The First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments are all now subject to the caprice of government officials. The Military Commissions Act allows U.S. citizens to be detained without due process if they are declared enemy combatants. Without our permission, this country has become an exporter of torture.

Congress has failed to provide oversight and exercise its authority to rein in a criminal administration. Only swift action on impeachment can redeem it now. The people have done the heavy work of bringing impeachment forward. Representatives need only ask if the allegations are serious enough to warrant investigations.

George Bush and Dick Cheney promote an imperial presidency. They assert that the executive is the most powerful branch of government, undermining the judiciary and Congress in violation of the Constitution's bedrock principle of shared power among three co-equal branches. This subverts the very nature of our system of government.

"This is an attempt by the president to have the final word on his own constitutional powers, which eliminates the checks and balances that keep the country a democracy. ... That's a big problem because that's essentially a dictatorship," Fein said.

As always, I urge you to read the whole piece. Then get angry; then write or call your Representative in DC.