It looks like Dennis K. is going to fully take on the constitutional crisis

since chris dodd is looking increasingly like a one-trick pony, i'm really glad to see this...

We all know that something is very wrong in our country. The Rule of Law, the Balance of Powers, and our Constitutionally guaranteed Civil Liberties have been under sustained assault by an Administration that is brazen and unrepentant in its abuses of our rights and our founding principles. And, to make matters worse, the Democratic leadership of the House and the Senate have failed to exercise the Constitutional authority granted to Congress to stop those abuses and hold violators accountable.

The results? The powers of the Executive Branch have gone unchecked and its policies unchallenged. The Congress and the American people were deceived into an illegal and immoral war in Iraq, and those same deceptions and manipulations are being used to justify a new war in Iran. The government is spying on its own citizens, ignoring judicial protections and due process, denying the right of habeas corpus, and refusing to abide by international laws, treaties, and principles.

and even happier to read this...

This Thursday, November 29, Democratic Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich will host an unprecedented "Dialogue for Democracy" forum that will be streamed LIVE on the Internet at KucinichTV.com. Along with invited guests, Dennis will bring this crisis to the attention of the nation and the world so we can better understand what's wrong, and, more importantly, what we can do about it. The first segment of the LIVE broadcast begins at 11 a.m. and continues until 1 p.m. The LIVE forum will resume at 5 p.m. and end at 9:30 p.m.

i've been waiting to hear any 2008 presidential candidate sound the clarion call of warning about our most critical constitutional crisis... this is looking like what i had in mind...

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Coup You!

In response to this request, here is post on the topic of whether anyone is thinking ahead about a Bush coup.



In fact, some are. With this article, Pravda goes to some length theorizing "US GOV'T OUT, BUSH GOV'T IN":

Exec orders 11051, 11310, 11049, 11921 outline the bypass of the current leftovers of the US three branch gov't (technically, four branch since Cheney has swung himself onto a new vine last week) and install his own in its place.

In these exec orders, Bush consolidates the entire US gov't into a few dept's of his own which will oversee without any recourse the carrying out of his other exec orders that take over the US and thin the herd.

[...]

The US TVs pump the same lies. The web returns 505. No one knows a thing on the street but suddenly the dollar is no more. People fear but for themselves. Probably some bombs explode and the US media reminds everyone "the US is under attack". Bush blames the evil overseas terrists (sic) for conspiring against the US currency and promises to bring on help with some Amero food stamps programme. Meanwhile, Canada and Mexico become the US but no one knows, not even most of Canada. By the time people work it out, it's too late.

[...]

Blighted areas are cordoned off and under the guise of protecting the rest of the US communities, fatal power is authorized against the starving mobs. Some areas are razed and executive order 11004 goes into effect: "communities are relocated"

CounterPunch continues the scenario with "Declaring the US a Battlefield":

The other thing we saw early on was the establishment of an underground government-within-a-government, though the activation, following 9-11, of the so-called "Continuity of Government" protocol, which saw heads of federal agencies moved secretly to an underground bunker where, working under the direction of Vice President Dick Cheney, the "government" functioned out of sight of Congress and the public for critical months.

It was also during the first year following 9-11 that the Bush/Cheney regime began its programs of arrest and detention without charge-mostly of resident aliens, but also of American citizens-and of kidnapping and torture in a chain of gulag prisons overseas and at the Navy base at Guantanamo Bay."

And from an interview of American psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, Amy Goodman asks about "unpredictability":

AMY GOODMAN: Noam Chomsky says that a superpower can exert its power most effectively, not by being rational, but by being irrational, where others in the world cannot predict what this number one superpower in the world, in this case, the United States, will do. What do you think of that?

ROBERT JAY LIFTON: Well, he's certainly right about it being non-rational. In some ways, though, it is almost predictable. I don't think that our behavior has been so unpredictable once we saw its general direction. And part of the argument in my book [Superpower Syndrome] is that it's part of an ideology which pulls together a kind of military fundamentalism from a more or less secular influence, people like Rumsfeld and Cheney, together with a religious fundamentalism, the influence of the Christian Right to create a doctrine and a policy that has a certain consistency. And it polarizes the world into good and evil. It seeks to dominate militarily and it can employ cynical manipulations because they're in the service of what is perceived as a higher truth. So, in some ways the behavior is certainly consistent. It's certainly non-rational. It's a kind of fantasy of omnipotence, but it is consistent. We're doing this again and again and what we're doing fits into this category.

Expect the unexpected.

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A logical follow-up to Section 1076 of the Defense Authorization Act

ah, how comforting it is to know that, when the major national emergency hits (or is orchestrated from the white house), all will be in good hands once martial law is declared under section 1076...

National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive

NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE/NSPD 51

HOMELAND SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE/HSPD-20

Subject: National Continuity Policy

Purpose

(1) This directive establishes a comprehensive national policy on the continuity of Federal Government structures and operations and a single National Continuity Coordinator responsible for coordinating the development and implementation of Federal continuity policies. This policy establishes "National Essential Functions," prescribes continuity requirements for all executive departments and agencies, and provides guidance for State, local, territorial, and tribal governments, and private sector organizations in order to ensure a comprehensive and integrated national continuity program that will enhance the credibility of our national security posture and enable a more rapid and effective response to and recovery from a national emergency.

Definitions

[...]

(e) "Enduring Constitutional Government," or "ECG," means a cooperative effort among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the Federal Government, coordinated by the President, as a matter of comity with respect to the legislative and judicial branches and with proper respect for the constitutional separation of powers among the branches, to preserve the constitutional framework under which the Nation is governed and the capability of all three branches of government to execute constitutional responsibilities and provide for orderly succession, appropriate transition of leadership, and interoperability and support of the National Essential Functions during a catastrophic emergency;

now, all we have to do is sit back and wait...

(thanks to pinche tejano at daily kos...)

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Inherent contempt - another Congressional option

i confess to being one of the members of the great unwashed blogosphere referred to by kagro x in his commendable efforts to point out another option available to congress in its response to requests and subpoenas related to oversight investigations that are being ignored by the bush administration... the most widely-discussed option, contempt of congress, would entail automatic involvement of the justice department, which, as we now so clearly realize, would be problematic to say the least... however...

Under the inherent contempt power [PDF], the individual is brought before the House or Senate by the Sergeant-at-Arms, tried at the bar of the body, and can be imprisoned. The purpose of the imprisonment or other sanction may be either punitive or coercive. Thus, the witness can be imprisoned for a specified period of time as punishment, or for an indefinite period (but not, at least in the case of the House, beyond the adjournment of a session of the Congress) until he agrees to comply. The inherent contempt power has been recognized by the Supreme Court as inextricably related to Congress’s constitutionally-based power to investigate.

here's kagro x's thoughts...

The most obvious benefit of inherent contempt is that it's conducted entirely "in-house," that is, entirely on the authority of the legislative branch. The most obvious drawback? Spending time on a trial. Well, that and the scene of having the Sergeant at Arms and the Capitol Police physically barred from entering the White House to arrest those who've defied subpoenas.

But is there another choice? What other power, besides impeachment, does the Congress have in its arsenal to enforce the "subpoena power" we were all told this election was about? There are no other direct options, only oblique approaches to using indirect leverage.

[...]

Let's face it: if the "administration" simply refuses to budge, the Congress either has to fold its tent and go home, or enforce on its own authority the subpoena power the American people voted for. Given that we've reached this impasse -- and we knew it was coming -- over an investigation into the hyper-partisan and hyper-politicized nature of the U.S. Attorneys, inherent contempt proceedings would appear to be the first and most direct resort of Congress in enforcing its mandate.

It would also appear to be the last stop short of impeachment. And with that remedy currently "off the table," Congress needs to speak -- and speak soon -- about how it intends to protect its prerogatives.

so, how do we help our congressional representatives to prepare...? again, kagro x...

Study up a bit on what happens when the subpoenas are defied. Learn about inherent contempt. Then drop a friendly line to your Members of Congress, expressing your support for the investigations the Congress is conducting, and urging them to think ahead and game out the "administration's" refusal to acknowledge the legislature's power as a co-equal branch. Let them know that when push comes to shove, you'd support enforcing that power through the inherent contempt procedure, and ask them if they're aware of it.

Sure, we'll get non-committal responses drafted by staff. But that doesn't mean there's no consideration for our communications going on inside the office. When Members get multiple letters, faxes and emails on the same subject -- even just a few -- it raises some notice among the staff. That's the way the system is designed. And when they several letters raising something that's otherwise as obscure as inherent contempt, you'll definitely be raising eyebrows.

it makes perfectly good sense to me, particularly since i have been ranting and raving about getting bushco removed from office in the most expeditious manner possible... i have never been keen on impeachment, simply because of the time and effort involved... leaving george, dick and the rest of the criminals in office and free to continue attacking the foundations of the republic while an impeachment process drags on doesn't address the urgency... however, the option of inherent contempt, something i was not aware of, ought to be out on the table just as much as contempt of congress and impeachment... write your representatives in congress as kagro x suggests... there's nothing to lose and everything to gain...

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It's official - the far right extremists want a dictatorship

hell, we've been seeing a dictatorship being fashioned right before our eyes for 6+ years, why should it surprise anybody to see it finally admitted in print...? glenn greenwald, one of the more solid voices out there, has some comments (boldface mine...)

The Weekly Standard's Michael Goldfarb participated in a conference call with former Senator George Mitchell yesterday, during which Mitchell advocated a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. This is what Goldfarb wrote about that call:

Pam Hess, the UPI reporter who gave us this extremely moving and persuasive glimpse of the liberal case for the war in Iraq, asked if timetables for withdrawal "somehow infringe on the president's powers as commander in chief?" Mitchell's less than persuasive answer: "Congress is a coequal branch of government...the framers did not want to have one branch in charge of the government."

True enough, but they sought an energetic executive with near dictatorial power in pursuing foreign policy and war. So no, the Constitution does not put Congress on an equal footing with the executive in matters of national security.

needless to say, greenwald comes back forcefully...

The notion that our Constitution vests anything like "near dictatorial power" in the President in any area -- let alone areas as broadly defined as "foreign policy and war" and "national security" -- is so utterly absurd that no response ought to be required.

[...]

One of the principal purposes of the Federalist Papers -- which Goldfarb obscenely cites as though it supports his twisted views of dictatorial omnipotence in America -- was to assuage widespread concerns (or, as Scalia put it, "mistrust") that the President would be, in essence, a new British King. That fear was not eliminated or even diminished, but instead was particularly pronounced, with regard to the President's role as "Commander-in-Chief," which is why there are so many safeguards in the form of Congressional powers designed to limit that role. All of this is excruciatingly basic and obvious, really not much beyond what seventh grade civics students are taught about what distinguishes a Republic from a "dictatorship."

as each day passes, i am less able to distinguish the two...

(thanks to crooks and liars...)

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Opposing a criminal president is "wasting time...?"

ya, right... and standing up for the balance of powers as set forth in the u.s. constitution is obviously a fool's errand as well...

"Once the Democrats figure out how they want to waste time on this, Senator McConnell will decide how to respond," Jon Henke, a spokesman for McConnell, told RAW STORY in an e-mail. "If the Democrats want to waste some time in a pointless personal fight about the Ambassador to Belgium, I’d only note that recess appointments are very common and we don’t recall Democrats citing this law when President Clinton made similar recess appointments."

"a pointless personal fight..." the garbage that issues from the mouths of these enablers is truly astounding, and OF COURSE, bill clinton MUST BE invoked...

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Bushco - throwing red meat to the base or fighting to the death?

on the one hand, you can characterize the recess appointments as a masterstroke of idiocy, but i think this characterization is probably closer to the mark...

The recess appointments helped put the White House where it likes to be: in a robust fight with the Democrats that even the president’s most dispirited backers can get excited about. As one administration official put it, “It allows us to get our footing back, at least, on issues that resonate with the public.”

it may resonate with SOME of the public, but for those of us who are paying attention, it's just more of the same - totally over-the-top arrogance designed to sidestep any accountability and to neuter the balance of powers... and, although i'm getting tired of posting this excerpt, we must not forget the fact that the bush administration laid out the plan they're now following BEFORE the november elections...

In fact, when it comes to deploying its Executive power, which is dear to Bush's understanding of the presidency, the President's team has been planning for what one strategist describes as "a cataclysmic fight to the death" over the balance between Congress and the White House if confronted with congressional subpoenas it deems inappropriate. The strategist says the Bush team is "going to assert that power, and they're going to fight it all the way to the Supreme Court on every issue, every time, no compromise, no discussion, no negotiation."

in that light, i think it's less about playing to the base as it is another naked demonstration of unilateral executive power, just to remind all of us who's REALLY boss...

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