Haven't we yet reached the point where open rebellion becomes the best solution?

-- ptighe

Um, that's what the "enemy combatant" designation is for...

This is no ordinary King George you're dealing with here.

That old Second Amendment keeps looking better and better, doesn't it?

"Isn't it the fact of the matter that the Democrats' strategy is to run out the clock on the Bush presidency while being just oppositional enough to keep the base sullen instead of mutinous, avoid the terrifying political risks of mounting any genuine challenge to despotic powers asserted by a despised president, hope that Bush leaves office without blowing up the world first, and hope that he is replaced by a Democrat or at least by a less despotic Republican, such that the present constitutional crisis can fade away without anyone having to do anything that might significantly upset the status quo?"

Yes, that most obviously is the fact of the matter.

The Congress, after all, has the "inherent authority" to find someone in contempt, and to sanction that same someone for being contemptous. For the Congress to pretend that this authority relies upon the cooperation of the Executive Branch (by way of the U.S. Attorney's office) is as much an assault on the Separation of Powers doctrine as is the Bush/Cheney radical reading of the scope of the Executive's power. That "reliance" amounts to nothing more than a legislative convenience, and hardly escuses the Congress from exercising it's Constitutional perogatives.

The Congress--which, after all, has it's own police force--should arrest Ms. Meirs, et al., send the whole lot of them down to Central Cellblock, and commence with a prosecution. And, should the White House, through one of the Executive Branch agencies, choose to get in the way, the Congress should simply de-fund the relevant offices/agencies and send those (by then former) executive branch employees to the nearest unemployment office. Pension-free, of course (which threat, I'm betting, will do much to focus the minds of those civil service employees).

"I don't understand why Congress is not outraged; I frankly don't understand why even Republicans in Congress (except those who have presidential ambitions and are hoping to sit in the catbird seat themselves some day) are not outraged because they are castrated and disempowered by this executive philosophy as much as Democrats are." - heyjude

Two words: Tom Delay. He may not be a Congressman anymore, but he reshaped the House of Representatives and helped bring many of the current Republicans to power. Btw, did you know that Cheney first appointed Delay as his Deputy Whip in 1988?

Whatever else is missing, this 'script' sure has continuity!

Check out The Big Buy: Tom Delay's Stolen Congress

http://tomdelaymovie.com/

Also: Peter Perl's WaPo piece "DeLay's Next Mission From God", April 9, 2006.

http://tinyurl.com/fscyk

Seems there's a rogue elephant or two (or twenty or a couple hundred) loose inside the White House.

Highly recommend this article. According to Punjab (Jim Coffey) REPUBLICANTS are Rich Elitists Professing Unending Bigotry, lacking Integrity, Compassion, And Never Talking Straight.

I am going to use this when I talk about these Unpatriots, although we should remember, there are disgusted Republicans and conservatives that are not part of this sorry congregation.

If she ends up the Dem nominee, I really don't think I will vote -- well, maybe a protest vote, writing in Russ Feingold.

-- -Mona

I asked a Bush supporter if he was still happy with the dork now. He said no. I asked why he voted for him in 2004 and he said, "because of who the Democratic nominee was, otherwise I might have voted for a Democrat". It will always be this way with some people. Maybe just admit you can never vote for a Democrat and be done with it.

Myself, I do not trust Hillary Clinton, finding her to be utterly lacking in principle and driven only by ambition and power lust. If she isn't keen on pushing some of these hearings, much less impeachment, it is because she would be delighted to step into the Executive-cum-monarch role Bush has prepared for his successor.

If she ends up the Dem nominee, I really don't think I will vote -- well, maybe a protest vote, writing in Russ Feingold.

-- -Mona-

Unfortunately they broke the mold with George Washington and he is long dead. The distinction may be lost on you but at least they don't use overt violence up here. They openly urge violence down in Venezuela to oust the democratically elected Chavez.

I'm sure you thought Henry Wallace was a communist. He wasn't too far off on some things...

The dangerous American fascist is the man who wants to do in the United States in an American way what Hitler did in Germany in a Prussian way. The American fascist would prefer not to use violence. His method is to poison the channels of public information. With a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or more power.

If we define an American fascist as one who in case of conflict puts money and power ahead of human beings, then there are undoubtedly several million fascists in the United States. There are probably several hundred thousand if we narrow the definition to include only those who in their search for money and power are ruthless and deceitful. Most American fascists are enthusiastically supporting the war effort... They are patriotic in time of war because it is to their interest to be so, but in time of peace they follow power and the dollar wherever they may lead.

American fascism will not be really dangerous until there is a purposeful coalition among the cartelists, the deliberate poisoners of public information, and those who stand for the K.K.K. type of demagoguery...

The American fascists are most easily recognized by their deliberate perversion of truth and fact. Their newspapers and propaganda carefully cultivate every fissure of disunity, every crack in the common front against fascism. They use every opportunity to impugn democracy. They use isolationism as a slogan to conceal their own selfish imperialism. They cultivate hate and distrust of both Britain and Russia. They claim to be super-patriots, but they would destroy every liberty guaranteed by the Constitution. They demand free enterprise, but are the spokesmen for monopoly and vested interest. Their final objective toward which all their deceit is directed is to capture political power so that, using the power of the state and the power of the market simultaneously, they may keep the common man in eternal subjection.

http://newdeal.feri.org/wallace/haw23.htm