A question of the presidential candidates that won't be asked...
We already know that President Bush has a dislike of the separation of powers. He has said as much in his signing statements.He thought so highly of the Supreme Court as to nominate a long-time friend and non-qualified Harriet Miers for an open position. He feels no need for the judicial branch by going around them to spy on American citizens without any judicial review.
And now we've got a new scandal brewing that shows President Bush doesn't like the legislative branch either. The document dump today shows that President Bush had specific US Attorneys fired for purely political reasons so that he could replace them without Senate approval. There is much, much more to this story and I hope to go into it further in the future. However, for now, just note the maneuver to get around the legislative branch by using a provision in the Patriot Act for something totally unrelated to terrorism.
In addition to a complete disregard for the separation of powers, President Bush has also strengthened the presidency by declaring some people outside the law because they are 'enemy combatants' and therefore he is not responsible to anyone about their care or rights.
The only thing we can do for the next 18 months is hope that everyone who acts like America is their little fiefdom gets jail time. However, I wonder if anyone will be willing to ask any of the presidential candidates of either party what they will do to reestablish a proper balance between the three branches of government and what that might look like.
posted by Expat Teacher @ 11:43 PM
