This week the Attorney General of the United States declared that the law does not apply to members of the executive branch. He did it twice. First he told the Judiciary Committee that torture is legal as long as the Justice Department clears it in advance. By extension, anything is legal as long as the Justice Department clears it in advance. Then he told the committee that the Justice Department would take no action on contempt citations issued by Congress to executive branch officials who refuse to honor lawful Congressional subpoenas if the President directs them not to appear. The president, according to Mukasey, is the law. Read the testimony at the second link.
Outrageous, but not as outrageous as the fact that this testimony has been virtually ignored by the media. It is simply par for the course for the Bush Administration to announce that it has no obligation to follow the law. It is living by Nixon’s maxim that “if the president does it, it’s legal”. Somewhere in Hell, Nixon is turning green with envy.
The fact that this is being ignored in the media is outrageous, but not as outrageous as the fact that Congress has done, and will do, nothing about it. Our democracy is being stolen and Congress has done nothing but emit feeble clucks of disapproval.
Mukasey has so clearly violated his oath of office. He clearly lied at his confirmation hearings. He has made Shumer and Feinstein, who are primarily responsible for the fact that he was confirmed, look like fools. He should be impeached. In fact, the House should impeach a large number of these people, if for no other reason than to put an official seal of disapproval on their actions. The Senate will not convict, but there doesn’t need to be a trial in the Senate-the House can time the impeachments so they happen toward the end of the term and at the time that these criminals would leave office anyway. It wouldn’t be much, but at least it would put Congress on record.
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