Atlanta Journal Editorial: BUSH ASSERTS A KING'S PREROGATIVE- Sets Stage For Impeachment

[kpete]

Atlanta Lead Editorial: Bush Asserts King's Prerogative, Risks Impeachment

Bush asserts a king's prerogative
With showdown over Iraq looming, president courts constitutional crisis


Published on: 07/25/07

In theory, President Bush is sworn to faithfully execute the laws of the United States. In reality, he has treated federal law as a menu from which he picks and chooses those laws he likes, while ignoring those that do not suit his taste.

That royalist attitude may soon inspire a constitutional confrontation unrivaled in U.S. history.

At the moment, the president's penchant for ignoring laws he finds inconvenient is best displayed in the standoff with Congress over subpoenas. Congress has demanded the sworn testimony of White House officials as part of an investigation into the Justice Department; the White House is refusing to allow that testimony, citing executive privilege.


............

That attitude clearly animates the Bush administration in its dealings with Congress on lesser issues, and if applied to Iraq could have enormous ramifications. It provides the philosophical foundation — a foundation poured, set and cured over the previous six years — for the administration to continue trying to fight in Iraq no matter what restrictions Congress may choose to enact. And that would set the stage for a whole range of nightmares, up to and including impeachment.

more at:
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/2007/07/25/bushking0725.html

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Holy cow! The Atlanta Journal ran that? I think it's the big one!

[CurtEastPoint]

2. Even though this is a Cox newspaper, they usually are pretty balanced

Call me on this but in the past, the Journal was right-leaning and the Constitution was left but they've been combined for a number of years and as a daily reader (we don't have many options otherwise) I think they seem to try to balance the views. Luckovich is a gem and Cynthis Tucker is almost always spot on. Then of course we have that idiot I can't even remember his name he is such a Repug POS.

Other Atlanta readers, what do you think? Is the AJC biased one way or the other?

[Donnachaidh]

4. AJC is not balanced

Heavily right wing. Not as crazed as Rupert's various rags.

Readership is down at the paper. What better way to get that to perk up than publish something their normal readership would consider controversial?

[terisan]

5. Tucker became an irrational war monger after 9/11. nt

[ananda]

3. Remember, impeachment is the CURE!

It's not a crisis or a nightmare.

[Swamp Rat]

6. Bushler is THE nightmare.

[Hydra]

7. good find

Funny that the WH has basically claimed the power to negate anything they don't like, with the cronies in the right places to do so.

How do you dismantle an entire system of checks and balances?

Apparently this has been Cheney's obsession and "master plan" for more than 30 years now.

[redqueen]

10. Hello, Hydra!

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[Hydra]

11. Thanks!

:hi:

[UpInArms]

13. Welcome to DU, Hydra!

Glad to have you with us :)

:hi:

[PA Democrat]

8. Great read. The author makes some great points.

He says that Bush is trying to deny Congress access to the very courts that the law says are to settle issues of executive privilege. He also says that this particular incident is just "a minor prelude to what may be coming next." That's the feeling I have as well. I think we are living in interesting times.

[Ganja Ninja]

9. Impeachment might be the way these guys plan to get out of Iraq.

Doesn't it seem as if they're begging for it? It's just a thought I had about why they've been so obstinate and defiant of the Democrats investigations. Since there isn't any way out they might be trying to get the Democrats to kick them out before the shit really hits the fan in Iraq. Then turn around blame the Dem's for the disaster that unfolds later once they're gone as if it were preventable if only they had remained in command.

[Kurovski]

12. K&R. (nt)

[WhiteTara]

14. wow! The tide must have turned

when I was last in Atlanta, it was 2003 and the RWers were everywhere and obnoxious. Glad to see that at least their paper is waking up.

[malaise]

15. People get ready

A change is coming.

[Senator]

16. — Jay Bookman, for the editorial board

This ain't just some angry letter.

Somebody in the Euphemedia is finally slapped with a cluestick.

Very pleasantly surprising.

===

[DemReadingDU]

17. morning kick

[annabanana]

18. I like their use of the words "KING" and "ROYAL". .

It throws into high relief what this crowd has been up to in simple, easy to grok terms.