The Cup O' Joe Report 01/24/06: Will Alito Make Congress Irrelevant?

[Joeve]

This is a transcript of Joe Vecchio's daily "Cup O' Joe Report" podcast, availaible via "screaming audio" here and posted with the permission of the author.

As the Senate gets ready to decide whether or not to confirm Judge Alito to the Supreme Court, the left is trying to get us to contact those Senators that are still on the fence and tell them to prevent the nomination. Being the skeptic I am, I'm not sure what kind of effect even thousands of such calls would make on someone who can get more votes with massive campaign contributions than votes they might lose in protest. Especially if those callers are from out of state. And more especially if the Senator is in a state where the votes are counted by machines owned by the same corporations who would be donating.

It occurred to me, however, that any Senator who votes to place Alito on the bench is quite possibly voting to make their own jobs irrelevant. If Mr. Bush believes, as he says he does, that he has the right to break the law if he deems it necessary for national security, and he has a Supreme Court willing to back him up on it, what purpose does the Senate and Congress have? Could they even impeach him if it came down to it, or prevent him from declaring martial law? Maybe they'll be happy to keep their positions even if it's just ceremonial. The money and benefits are still good.

I'm not going to say what will or what won't happen, but it seems to me that it's awfully dangerous for the Senate to vote away its authority. And maybe that's what we ought to tell them if we call them up. Because once that authority is gone, it's going to be tough to get it back.

Click Here To Listen To The Podcast

Cup O' Joe - Blog Of The Working Man's Thinking Man!

The Cup O' Joe Report podcast is available free of charge to any radio show who wishes to use it. The views expressed by Joe Vecchio are entirely his own and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of any organization he belongs to.

Listen to the Cup O' Joe Report on these radio shows:
Head On Radio with Bob Kincaid
All Things Reconsidered
Fourth Estate Radio
Big Phil's Love Parade

Joe Vecchio is a proud member of the White Rose Society

[fasttense]

1. Bush has already made congress irrelevant. It's just that no one noticed.