Lawlwss White House Continues, Unchecked

Perhaps the only people who can "check" them are "the people."


Published on Sunday, July 8, 2007 by the San Francisco Chronicle

White House Again to Defy Congress on Attorney Firings

by Peter Baker

WASHINGTON - The White House has decided to defy Congress in its latest demand for information regarding the dismissal of nine U.S. attorneys, sources familiar with the decision said Saturday. Such an action would escalate the constitutional struggle and propel it closer to a court showdown.

Senate and House committees have directed President Bush to provide by Monday a detailed justification of his executive privilege claims and a full accounting of documents he is withholding. But White House counsel Fred Fielding plans to tell lawmakers that he has already provided the legal basis for the claims and will not provide a log of withheld documents, the sources said.

The standoff suggests that neither side is prepared to budge in the fight over documents and testimony in the widening U.S. attorney investigation. Officials in both camps said no serious negotiations are taking place to resolve the dispute, while Fielding plans to follow up his letter by further asserting executive privilege later this week, directing former White House aides Harriet Miers and Sara Taylor not to testify in response to congressional subpoenas.

The two sides increasingly believe the matter will lead congressional Democrats to seek criminal contempt citations against the White House, which could result in a protracted court battle over the contours of the president’s power to shield White House deliberations. Both sides insist the other’s legal position is weak and argue that this could be one of the most important test cases in years.

The impasse is leading to “a monumental clash between the executive and legislative branches of government,” Taylor’s attorney, W. Neil Eggleston, wrote in a letter sent Saturday to Fielding and leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The conflict stems from congressional investigations into the dismissal last year of nine chief federal prosecutors. The Senate and House judiciary committees issued five subpoenas seeking documents and testimony by Taylor, who until six weeks ago was the White House political director, and Miers, the former White House counsel. Bush asserted executive privilege June 28 in refusing to respond to the subpoenas for documents, and the committees responded by demanding that he provide a legal basis and the log.

The log, according to the committees, should describe each document withheld, including its source, subject matter, date and recipients. White House officials viewed it as a backdoor attempt to get sensitive information about deliberations, the sources said.

A White House spokesman declined to comment Saturday. But the White House in recent days has said it has already cooperated extensively with congressional investigators and is now standing on principle.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said Saturday that withholding the legal basis and log would suggest the White House is trying to cover something up or realizes it does not have a reasonable claim. He noted that the administration was willing to give some of the information previously under strict conditions.

“This latest stonewalling attempt raises troubling questions about what the White House is trying to hide by refusing to turn over evidence it was willing to provide months ago as long as the information was shared in secret with no opportunity for Congress to pursue the matter further,” Leahy said through a spokeswoman.

© 2007 Hearst Communications Inc.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. The Lantern has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is The Lantern endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)

....And The Truth Shall Set Us Free

IMPEACHMENT NOW!

Start with Cheney!

Original Content at http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_carol_wo_070213_keep_your_eye_on_the.htm

February 13, 2007

Keep your eye on the ball- impeachment now!

By Carol Wolman

The real war on terror is being fought by We, the People against the terrorists who have hijacked our government. The hijackers, who fly the Skull and Bones of their Yale fraternity, have been striving to terrorize us with 9-11, to drive us into bankruptcy, to befuddle our minds with their lies and hypocrisy, and to prepare us for slavery under their fascist regime, which is now legally in place. The hijackers have corrupted the Congress that the Constitution mandates to represent our interests, the interests of We, the People. The hijackers have made a mockery of our Constitution, and somehow have rendered even the new Democratic Congress impotent to stop them.

Since the election of November '06, when We, the People turned out to register our disapproval of Bush, despite all the usual dirty tricks from his henchpeople in the GOP,- since the election, Bush has become steadily more aggressive. He evidently believes that a good offense is the best defense.

He has thumbed his nose at We, the People and our election, with his announcement that he'll open our mail at will, send more troops to Iraq over our strenuous objections, replace Federal Prosecuting Attorneys who are supposed to catch criminals for Us, the People with his own loyal mobsters, cut our public services and our safety net for the poor to fund his military adventures, etc., etc.

Above all, Bush is threatening all of us with all-out nuclear war by escalating the threat against Iran, which is closely allied with two major nuclear powers- China and Russia. By intimating that he feels free to use "mininukes" and "bunkerbusters" against a non-nuclear power, he is playing nuclear chicken with all life on the planet. Use of nuclear weapons against Iran would surely invite nuclear retaliation against the US.

We, the People are holding our own. We've kept the hijackers from achieving their goal of enslaving us up to now, through a combination of courage, truth-telling, and the heaven-sent internet. Although the hijackers have all the military might, control the media, and are ruthless against their enemies, the determined army of We the People, with our small salaries and keyboards and telephones have kept the worst from happening, so far.

We now need to confront the ugly fact that our new Congress, the one We, the People elected to stop the hijackers, is doing nothing of the sort. Although a few, like Russ Feingold and Ted Kennedy, Barbara Lee and Maxine Waters, are speaking out in various ways, the Democratic leadership will allow whatever funding Bush asks for his military aggressions.

Rather than restore habeas corpus and the Bill of Rights, Pelosi's priority has been to strengthen the tools of fascism by "carrying out the recommendations of the 9-11 (coverup) Commission".

HR 1 orders more surveillance and tracking of Americans.

Despite the incredible revelations at the Libby trial that both Bush and Cheney were prime movers in the outing of Valerie Plame, Congress has not ordered an investigation. Since Plame headed up an international network of undercover agents, whose job it was to interdict WMDs from falling into the hands of terrorists, outing her amounts to treason. What could give more aid and comfort to terrorists that getting rid of the key network that was keeping them from obtaining WMDs? And how many loyal CIA operatives were killed as a direct result of revealing Plame's identity? This makes Bush and Cheney guilty of murder as well.

Treason and murder, surely high crimes under the Constitution. Why is there no bill of impeachment on the floor of the 110th Congress?

The hijackers well know how vulnerable they are right now. They are using the media to distract Us, the People from keeping our eye on the ball with a variety of false leads.

The ball is in our court, and we need to impeach them all.

The battle over the Iraq "surge" is one false lead. It's a mere skirmish, but is taking up lots of progressive time and energy, and giving "progressives" in Congress a chance to posture and appear as opponents of the hijackers, without having any real effect.

Another diversion is the 2008 presidential circus. We'll be fortunate to make it to the end of 2007 without martial law and fascism- "bird flu" and a FEMA takeover, or war with Iran, or another false flag operation like 9-11. There may well be no election in 2008.

We need action NOW, not 2 years from now.

Are Obama, Kucinich and the rest aware that they are impeding impeachment by creating media events, or are they merely patsies?

There are lots of issues that need attention- global warming, torture, the media buildup for attacking Iran. Impeachment trumps them all. Get rid of the bad guys, and we can tackle the rest of it. Since Congress won't impeach, they're bad guys too.

We, the People are on our own.

Let's keep our eye on the ball. The Constitution doesn't tell We the People what to do if Congress fails us, so we need to devise new strategies. They have to be peaceful and legal, because all We the People really have is our righteousness. We should look into recalling Congress, bypassing Congress with our own impeachment hearings, arresting Congress for conspiracy to commit felonies under the RICO act. Or perhaps we can stage a massive sit-in in the halls of Congress, and force our so-called Representatives to impeach, by halting all their other business.Above all, we have to stay alert and continue to mobilize our energy and resources for this great battle against the evil which has befallen us.

The future of our country, the future of life on the planet, is at stake. We, the People, having been given sovereignty, self-rule, under our Constitution, have a grave responsibility to the rest of planet, and to posterity.Let's keep our eye on the ball.

Impeachment now! In the name of the Prince of Peace, Carol WolmanAuthors Website: http://voteCarolWolmanforCongress.com

Authors Bio: Carol S. Wolman, MD is a psychiatrist in Northern California. A lifelong peace activist, she has written extensively on the psychology of our times. She is actively working to impeach Bush and Cheney, and suggests you join or form a local group at

http://impeachbush.meetup.com/
She ran for Congress as a nonpartisan write-in candidate in CA district 1, and is a coordinator of The Longhouse Coalition.


....and the truth shall set us free.