CCR calls for Impeachment.
The Center for Constitutional Rights is calling for the impeachment of Greorge W. Bush and it’s no wonder.
With the mass media buzzing for months now with news of Bush’s “Signing Statements” where he quietly states that the laws of the United States of America do not apply to the Office of the President, I for one am amazed that Constitutional watchdog groups such as the CCR have not raised more of a stink already.
Of course simply stating that the laws of the US don’t apply to him doesn’t mean that he’s actually VIOLATING the laws, right?
It seems that with the revelation of the NSA tracking domestic calling records without court orders or judicial oversight that that Mr. Bush may be practicing what he preaches.
But we may never know.
In Saturday’s Wall Street Journal there is a Associated Press article stating that the Bush administration has submitted court documents claiming “State Secrets” privilege and asking for the lawsuits of the CCR and ACLU to be thrown out.
Quoting Shayana Kadidal, an attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights, calling the administration’s motion “undemocratic.”
“The Bush administration is trying to crush a very strong case against domestic spying without any evidence or argument.” “Can the president tell the courts which cases they can rule on? If so, the courts will never be able to hold the president accountable for breaking the law.”
And from an April 30th article by Charlie Savage in the Boston Globe –
”There can’t be judicial review if nobody knows about it,“ said Neil Kinkopf, a Georgia State law professor who was a Justice Department official in the Clinton administration. ”And if they avoid judicial review, they avoid having their constitutional theories rebuked.”
Without court involvement, only Congress can check a president who goes too far. But Bush’s fellow Republicans control both chambers, and they have shown limited interest in launching the kind of oversight that could damage their party.
”The president is daring Congress to act against his positions, and they’re not taking action because they don’t want to appear to be too critical of the president, given that their own fortunes are tied to his because they are all Republicans,“ said Jack Beermann, a Boston University law professor. ”Oversight gets much reduced in a situation where the president and Congress are controlled by the same party.”
Said David Golove, a New York University law professor who specializes in executive-power issues: ”Bush has essentially said that ‘We’re the executive branch and we’re going to carry this law out as we please, and if Congress wants to impeach us, go ahead and try it.’ “
On March 1st, on Salon,com, Garrison Keillor wrapped up his take on part of the whole affair.
”The U.S. Constitution provides a simple ultimate way to hold him to account for the crimes and the failure to attend to the country’s defense. Impeach him and let the Senate hear the evidence.“
I think that sums it up.
