Well, that’s the short version. The long version is that Congress won’t be permitted — permitted! — to pursue contempt charges against certain members of the Administration for whom the President has invoked executive privilege. How can they do that? Very simple: under federal law the contempt charges must be run through the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, who is then legally obligated to convene a grand jury. However, the U.S. Attorneys work for the Justice Department and for Alberto Gonzales. Furthermore, remember that Congress is attempting to investigate how and why 9 U.S. Attorneys were fired.
An anonymous administration official has stated that no U.S. Attorney will be allowed to pursue such charges against the administration, nor “permitted to argue against the reasoned legal opinion that the Justice Department provided.” He did not need to add that at this point, each and every U.S. Attorney knows what will happen to his or her job should if they do not Follow Orders and Tow The Company Line. This of course includes the U.S. Attorney for the District of Colombia.
How on earth is Congress supposed to get to the bottom of anything when the Administration refuses to give them complete documentation and even refuses to allow key witnesses to appear for questioning? They aren’t, and that’s the point.
What exactly are they trying to hide? Perhaps a High Crime or Misdemeanor?
Several possible options lie before Congress. They can use their “inherent contempt” power, which does not require the cooperation of the Justice Department, but will have the look of an internal witch trial. They can impeach Gonzales — he’s already on record lying to Congress and that’s impeachable all by itself — and the Senate can refuse to confirm a successor until this mess is settled and Harriet Miers appears before them. Perhaps they will talk about using the I Bomb on the President himself. And perhaps there is a path that seems clear to guys like Harry Reid that isn’t obvious to you and me. But this situation cannot be allowed to stand.
In closing: War on Science == War on Women; a follow up on an item from 4 years ago (!), details are finally trickling out about Cheney’s energy task force meetings from 2001; Sure, the President gets to invoke privilege, but he also has the right to say you won’t be needing due process; new study by guys who know what they are talking about says there’s a big energy problem, and we’d better address it starting with better efficiency; and finally “Key to a long life — Less Insulin in the Brain cautions us that the best way to get that “less insulin” is “good, old-fashioned diet and exercise.” But then they never tell you what they mean by a “good old-fashioned diet.” A quarter says they mean a diet low in sugar and moderate in complex carbohydrates, because under normal circumstances our bodies produce insulin after we eat such foods. So a sugar-high might be just as bad for you as illegal drugs?
So much for the Social Contract.” Capricious Law. King George III has the last laugh. Please, pass the sugar bowl …(suicide by carbohydrate.)
I guess Amerikans reward inanity and the insipid. Keep on bringing the truth; the reward is far greater than money (