The Presidency is a Trust, Not a Trophy
Last night on PBS' Frontline "The Dark Side", the Halloween season was Ushered in with a special on Cheney that definitely Spooked anyone interested in maintaining constitutional government. In the course of the program, it bothered me that the inheritance Cheney is supposed to have received from his years seeing Nixon go down, then Ford, then Bush I - was reputed to be a conviction that the Presidency must be restored.
The concept of a presidency that makes it into monolithic power unchecked by other branches with equal validity is not of natural birth. This country benefitted from remarkably intellectual and disinterested forefathers whose concept of citizenship was the origin of a government 'of the people, by the people and for the people', a phrase that is far from meaningless jargon. The basic construction makes the government responsible, and responsive, to its basic unit, the voter.
The secrecey, machinations, the appeals to rank prejudice and to welfare for the rich, the lies, that were used to achieve the "victory" that substituted a fraud for a public servant are not what our founders established. The concept that an educated class would make the sacrifice of their time in order to give a working government to his peers was a bit elitist, admittedly idealistic, but one that seemed the natural antithesis to a tyrant at the time.
That the country has been reduced to a debtor nation by the cabal in the White House is a violation of all our constitutional principles. That a unilateral opportunistic war was declared without an act of congress is a violation of our constitution and of rational government. That our public programs are stripped while private businesses are granted unexamined contracts with the public's money that has been stolen from its own programs is criminal, pure and simple. The wellpaid cronies that function instead of qualified administrators in the executive branch are a denial of the powers of the public.
In my not so humble opinion, a presidency reduced to power without principle is not the result of the kind of 'resolution' the PBS program postulated. Rather, it it appears more a revenge on the constitution that denied victory to its enemies, Cheney and his cohorts, when justice prevailed.
The reversal of that victory that this president's pals have worked toward is a victory over justice. That the Justice Department has been rendered dysfunctional is hardly a coincidence. The present rightwing Supreme Court's bias against the public, toward corporations, is another reversal of the earlier, constitutional, victory over the criminals now in power.
The Trust - what the presidency was meant to be - has been destroyed in every sense of the word. Public polls showing 24% approval of Cretin-1 are just one indication that the lies have failed, the public rejects them.
There is no choice in the way to beat back this defeat. The party that made criminal action and criminal intent its means has to be plowed under, and we need to do everything we can to make that happen. The president of vice, and his minions, have shown they will always be a threat, and we have to treat them as a threat, to democracy and to the functioning of this country.
The president's papers will have to be pried loose to use as evidence. Prosecution is called for.
The concept of a presidency that makes it into monolithic power unchecked by other branches with equal validity is not of natural birth. This country benefitted from remarkably intellectual and disinterested forefathers whose concept of citizenship was the origin of a government 'of the people, by the people and for the people', a phrase that is far from meaningless jargon. The basic construction makes the government responsible, and responsive, to its basic unit, the voter.
The secrecey, machinations, the appeals to rank prejudice and to welfare for the rich, the lies, that were used to achieve the "victory" that substituted a fraud for a public servant are not what our founders established. The concept that an educated class would make the sacrifice of their time in order to give a working government to his peers was a bit elitist, admittedly idealistic, but one that seemed the natural antithesis to a tyrant at the time.
That the country has been reduced to a debtor nation by the cabal in the White House is a violation of all our constitutional principles. That a unilateral opportunistic war was declared without an act of congress is a violation of our constitution and of rational government. That our public programs are stripped while private businesses are granted unexamined contracts with the public's money that has been stolen from its own programs is criminal, pure and simple. The wellpaid cronies that function instead of qualified administrators in the executive branch are a denial of the powers of the public.
In my not so humble opinion, a presidency reduced to power without principle is not the result of the kind of 'resolution' the PBS program postulated. Rather, it it appears more a revenge on the constitution that denied victory to its enemies, Cheney and his cohorts, when justice prevailed.
The reversal of that victory that this president's pals have worked toward is a victory over justice. That the Justice Department has been rendered dysfunctional is hardly a coincidence. The present rightwing Supreme Court's bias against the public, toward corporations, is another reversal of the earlier, constitutional, victory over the criminals now in power.
The Trust - what the presidency was meant to be - has been destroyed in every sense of the word. Public polls showing 24% approval of Cretin-1 are just one indication that the lies have failed, the public rejects them.
There is no choice in the way to beat back this defeat. The party that made criminal action and criminal intent its means has to be plowed under, and we need to do everything we can to make that happen. The president of vice, and his minions, have shown they will always be a threat, and we have to treat them as a threat, to democracy and to the functioning of this country.
The president's papers will have to be pried loose to use as evidence. Prosecution is called for.
Labels: Bush Legacy, Democracy, Dirty Tricks, The Unitary President
posted by Ruth at 6:55 AM
2 Comments:
I have never read a more concise and perfectly captured expression of what the BushCo presidency has been from Day One than the title of this post.
Thank you.
I humbly thank you. It was literally dragged out of me by torture.
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