After months and months and months of yammering about the Rule of Law, the House finally made good on its threat to hold White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and Harriet Miers in Contempt of Congress. This was a fine Valentine's Day gift for the American people. You may recall that both Bolten and Miers failed to appear before a House committee after their appearance was demanded. They asserted Executive Privilege. However, unlike most cases of this assertion, where the party appears but refuses to answer certain/all questions, these two refused to come at all. This patently breaks the law. In spite of this, AG Mukasey -- or as I like to call him, Boot-licking Gonzales II -- has said that he will not enforce any such citations of contempt. This will create something of a Constitutional showdown. The resolution included the authority for the Congress to sue the White House in civil court if the citations are not enforced by the Justice Department. What effect that will have is unclear.
The final vote on the resolution was 223-32, with most Republicans staging a walkout and refusing to vote. This is a staggering refusal on their part to: (1) uphold the Constitution; (2) protect the authority of the Congress; and (3) stand up and be counted regardless of their decision. They are contemptible chicken-shits in every way possible.
15 February 2008
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