A world of difference
How the rules change when it’s Our Crook in the chair.
There is a world of difference between how Republicans viewed oversight when Barack Obama was president and their support of Trump’s obstruction. I know, because for five years I worked for Republicans on the House Oversight and Reform Committee.
In a 1957 Supreme Court ruling, Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote, “The power of Congress to conduct investigations is inherent in the legislative process. That power is broad … It comprehends probes into departments of the federal government to expose corruption, inefficiency, or waste.”
During my time on Oversight, the chief justice’s words were often cited as justification for our vigorous supervision of the Obama administration. Led by Representative Darrell Issa, my former boss, Republicans issued more than 100 subpoenas, held Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress, created a select committee to investigate Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s handling of the Benghazi crisis, and filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging President Obama’s use of executive privilege.
How the rules do change when it’s Our Guy.
The committee sent Clinton a letter saying it could investigate anything at any time, and the chair sent a letter warning the Obama administration not to try to intimidate a witness.
But now? Now the rules have changed. Or not so much “changed” as reversed.
The entire point of having separate but equal branches of government was to create protections against the kind of tyranny and absolute rule that was common in Europe. If Trump can simply ignore Congress and act unilaterally without consequence, then he is America’s first dictator.
And he is ignoring Congress and acting unilaterally without consequence, so currently he is America’s first dictator. That’s the state of play right now.
Sorry, but I have to laugh at the author using the phrase “separate but equal”, a phrase usually used to describe legalized racial segregation, to instead describe our branches of government.
(The three branches were not designed to be equal anyway. Congress is supposed to be the preeminent branch. They pass the laws. They can impeach and remove presidents and Supreme Court justices. They alone have the power to declare war.)
Constitutionally, of course. They have ceded so much to the president, and the presidents have seized so much with the permission of Congress, that now we frequently go to war without Congressional declarations. Yeah, the president can’t declare war, but now he can send us there in spite of everything.
#2
Specifically, the president can enact any warlike action he wants so long as he does not call it a war.
Holms – right. He just makes sure the “war” identifies as something else.
To any student of Rome (which I would wager would be practically everyone reading this), the situation has to conjure thoughts of similarities to the relationship between the Roman Senate and the Emperor. If we are indeed going down that path, then we already know how it will end.
James Garnett, that goes through my mind at least several times a day. Only Trump is no Julius Caesar – we’re jumping straight to Caligula.
Caligula for the debauchery, Nero for being on the fiddle while the country burns.
AoS, and both for the incompetence.