Lurking around in the Bushes
The last time members of one major party's camp broke into the offices of the other to steal documents from a famous Washington office building, things didn't end too well for the interlopers.
Now we've got members of a sitting president's administration ordering the Justice Department to raid an allegedly equal branch of government's turf, simmering bipartisan resentment and talk of Supreme Court intervention, but seemingly falling short of scandal.
FBI agents conducting a bribery investigation of Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., showed up at a closed House office building with a warrant signed by Attorney General Roberto Gonzales and spent their Saturday night going through his files, spreading unease across the aisle.
Yes, for when it's using proxy agencies to rifle though a fellow lawmaker's private communications, then all the legislative branch "representatives" start to care about this executive branch's flagrant and seemingly escalating attempts to consolidate power and remain above reproach for its actions.
Though, in fairness, what they're nosing through in congressional offices is probably a trifle more consequential than what the NSA could glean if it were literally eavesdropping on citizens' phone calls and e-mails. (Assuming the fact that I cleaned my closet yesterday and thought the season finale of "House" was lame are not in the nation's vital interests–and if they are, we've all got more serious issues to worry about.)
Still, better late than never. It's still worth noting how an administration with such disregard for boundaries so zealously guards its own–recall, the Bush White House holds the record for classifying documents, which it does to its paranoid and hyperactive little heart's content, even re-classifying many that have been sitting on public library shelves for years.
And though Supreme Court challenges and other means of recourse through official channels are all well and good, I think some rogue if juvenile lawmakers need to get together and wage this privacy battle in terms the Bush crew can relate to: Raid Dick Cheney's undisclosed location when he's out conducting business on the surface, then take pictures of a lawn gnome waving from throughout the property and send them to Cheney weeks later to freak him out.
Either that, or maxi pad the presidential motorcade and plastic fork the lawn of the White House. I swear, just one near-impaling for Miss Beazley, and that'll learn 'em.
Now we've got members of a sitting president's administration ordering the Justice Department to raid an allegedly equal branch of government's turf, simmering bipartisan resentment and talk of Supreme Court intervention, but seemingly falling short of scandal.
FBI agents conducting a bribery investigation of Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., showed up at a closed House office building with a warrant signed by Attorney General Roberto Gonzales and spent their Saturday night going through his files, spreading unease across the aisle.
"The Justice Department was wrong to seize records from Congressman Jefferson's office in violation of the constitutional principle of separation of powers, the speech or debate clause of the Constitution, and the practice of the last 219 years," Mr. Hastert and Ms. Pelosi said in a rare joint statement.Silly senators, that's just Dubya the Visionary being innovative. Indeed, President Bush, never one to let an opportunity to remind us all that he's The Decider slip by, issued a statement Thursday ordering that the documents taken from Jefferson's office be sealed for 45 days, so that the parties involved can settle on (read: have imposed) a way to move forward "in a manner that respects the interests of a coequal branch of government."
Yes, for when it's using proxy agencies to rifle though a fellow lawmaker's private communications, then all the legislative branch "representatives" start to care about this executive branch's flagrant and seemingly escalating attempts to consolidate power and remain above reproach for its actions.
Though, in fairness, what they're nosing through in congressional offices is probably a trifle more consequential than what the NSA could glean if it were literally eavesdropping on citizens' phone calls and e-mails. (Assuming the fact that I cleaned my closet yesterday and thought the season finale of "House" was lame are not in the nation's vital interests–and if they are, we've all got more serious issues to worry about.)
Still, better late than never. It's still worth noting how an administration with such disregard for boundaries so zealously guards its own–recall, the Bush White House holds the record for classifying documents, which it does to its paranoid and hyperactive little heart's content, even re-classifying many that have been sitting on public library shelves for years.
And though Supreme Court challenges and other means of recourse through official channels are all well and good, I think some rogue if juvenile lawmakers need to get together and wage this privacy battle in terms the Bush crew can relate to: Raid Dick Cheney's undisclosed location when he's out conducting business on the surface, then take pictures of a lawn gnome waving from throughout the property and send them to Cheney weeks later to freak him out.
Either that, or maxi pad the presidential motorcade and plastic fork the lawn of the White House. I swear, just one near-impaling for Miss Beazley, and that'll learn 'em.
posted by Holly at 5:03 PM
<< Home