Fund Your Utopia Without Me.™

20 June 2012

F&F: What Did The POTUS Know & When Did He Know It?



M2RB:  RUSH






The hypocrites are slandering
The sacred Halls of Truth
Ancient nobles showering
Their bitterness on youth
Can't we find the minds that made us strong?
Can't we learn to feel what's right
And what's wrong?
What's wrong?

Cities full of hatred, fear and lies
Withered hearts and cruel, tormented eyes
Scheming demons dressed in kingly guise
Beating down the multitude and
Scoffing at the wise
Can't we raise our eyes and make a start?
Can't we find the minds to lead us
Closer to the heart?







"A minute after he took office, the White House website declared his administration would become “the most open and transparent in history.”



Five years ago, in 2007, Senator Barack Obama went on Larry King's show on CNN.  During the interview, he stated that the Bush administration was "hiding behind executive privilege" after King asked him for his opinion on Executive Privilege in theory and practise.





“Do you favor executive privilege or should Karl Rove and others in that like position be forced to testify before the House or Senate?

- CNN's Larry King


“Well, you know, I think we'll -- we'll determine over the next several weeks how this administration responds to the very appropriate call by Patrick Leahy, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, to have these individuals come in and testify. You know, there's been a tendency on the part of this administration to -- to try to hide behind executive privilege every time there's something a little shaky that's taking place. And I think, you know, the administration would be best served by coming clean on this. There doesn't seem to be any national security issues involved with the U.S. attorney question. There doesn't seem to be any justification for not offering up some clear, plausible rationale for why these -- these U.S. attorneys were targeted when, by all assessments, they were doing an outstanding job. 

I think the American people deserve to know what was going on there.” 

- Senator Barack Obama, Larry King Show, 2007


 ****************************************************************************

  “Let me say as simply as I can, transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency. I will also hold myself as president to a new standard of openness…But the mere fact that you have the legal power to keep something secret does not mean you should always use it.”

Senator Barack Obama, 2008






“You know, there's been a tendency on the part of this administration to -- to try to hide behind executive privilege every time there's something a little shaky that's taking place. And I think, you know, the administration would be best served by coming clean on this. There doesn't seem to be any national security issues involved with the U.S. attorney question... I think the American people deserve to know what was going on there.”

Senator Barack Obama, 2008


 ****************************************************************************

“The government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure. because errors or failures might be revealed or because of speculative or abstract fears.”

 - President Barack Obama, 2009


  ****************************************************************************

“There may be a situation here in which a serious mistake was made and if that’s the case we will find out and hold someone accountable."

President Barack Obama, 2011








As of Wednesday, the 19th day of June, 2012, President Obama had not addressed his decision to assert executive privilege to Holder in Fast and Furious case.


Fortunately, we do have a response from Senator Charles Grassley doing his best Howard Baker impersonation:

 “The assertion of executive privilege raises monumental questions,” said Sen. Grassley, ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee who first began the Fast and Furious investigation.

1.  How can the president assert executive privilege if there was no White House involvement?

2.  How can the president exert executive privilege over documents he’s supposedly never seen?

3.  Is something very big being hidden to go to this extreme?


IOW:

1.  What did/does the President know?

and

2.  When did he know it?

and 

3.  Why is he so desperately trying to prevent the best disinfectant of sunlight to shine a light on the truth for all of us to see?


Finally, Grassley said that "the contempt citation is an important procedural mechanism in our system of checks and balances.”

Keep in mind, the Obama Administration is arguing that other administrations, namely, the Nixon administration invoked Executive Privilege, BUT THERE WEREN'T HOMICIDES IN THE THIRD-RATE BURGLARY.



Photobucket




Executive Privilege Kicks Off Regular Season

By J. Christian Adams



(Read my review of the book Fast and Furious here for a great primer on the scandal.)

A president doesn’t assert executive privilege lightly. It is a relic from the powers of the king. Some things were not for parliament’s eyes, such as national security statecraft. This new phase of the Fast and Furious scandal begins with Americans who had paid no attention to the scandal hearing the news today and asking, “what are they trying to hide?”

The new phase might possibly include members of the old media asking why the Most Transparent Administration in History, isn’t. Or, it might see them going all out to defend their president.

Pay attention to how often they use the term “botched” gun running operation. This is government-generated language. If you read Pavlich’s book, you know there was nothing “botched” about Fast and Furious except the architecture. The government wants you to think the builders screwed up, not the anti-Second Amendment architects.

One thing executive privilege can’t accomplish for Eric Holder is hiding his Department’s wrongdoing. Richard Nixon got that scolding from the Supreme Court in 1974 in a case deliciously named United States v. Nixon.

In that case, the Supreme Court held,
neither the doctrine of separation of powers nor the need for confidentiality of high-level communications, without more, can sustain an absolute, unqualified Presidential privilege of immunity from judicial process under all circumstances.
Executive privilege cannot be used to cover up criminal wrongdoing, such as lying to Congress.

Note that in the Nixon case, the subpoenas came from a court, not from Congress. Congress arguably has more power than does a court to get to the bottom of matters involving governmental action.

This administration has not respected congressional oversight powers going back to the New Black Panther dismissal.

When a president acts this way, Congress wields an even mightier power than contempt. Congress can wield the power of the purse to counter today’s assertion by the White House. 

This power works best with a gang so addicted to government largess.

Congress, in particular the House, which was given the express power to originate spending bills, can simply refuse to fund certain offices and functions inside the Justice Department. 

Last year’s spending is already set, but not this year’s. Without the House approving spending at the DOJ, the DOJ can’t spend money.

The answer to this rebuff today is to defund a wide swath of offices inside DOJ, perhaps starting with the Office of Public Affairs and Office of Legislative Affairs. They started the lying to Congress and the American people about Fast and Furious. Now they should lose funding.









 
"A Farewell To Kings" - Rush

When they turn the pages of history
When these days have passed long ago
Will they read of us with sadness
For the seeds that we let grow?
We turned our gaze
From the castles in the distance
Eyes cast down
On the path of least resistance

Cities full of hatred, fear and lies
Withered hearts and cruel, tormented eyes
Scheming demons dressed in kingly guise
Beating down the multitude and
Scoffing at the wise

The hypocrites are slandering
The sacred Halls of Truth
Ancient nobles showering
Their bitterness on youth
Can't we find the minds that made us strong?
Can't we learn to feel what's right
And what's wrong?
What's wrong?

Cities full of hatred, fear and lies
Withered hearts and cruel, tormented eyes
Scheming demons dressed in kingly guise
Beating down the multitude and
Scoffing at the wise
Can't we raise our eyes and make a start?
Can't we find the minds to lead us
Closer to the heart?


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