[PAA-Discuss] Voters Want Accountability

Wed Nov 15 13:16:09 EST 2006

Wonderful article, Ivan! Thanks for posting this. I agree with everything
the authors say.

Kris

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From: Ivan Espinosa [mailto:ie3456 at yahoo.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, November 15, 2006 9:10 AM
To: discuss at paa-tx.org
Subject: [PAA-Discuss] Voters Want Accountability

I'm glad the Democrats won control of the House and Senate. But, the
Democrats are NOT getting a free pass from me. They better take action and
hold Bush and Cheney accountable for all of the catastrophic things they
have done for the past six years. This is NOT the time for spinelessness and
inaction. This is NOT the time for weak-willed leadership. The voters have
spoken and they want change; they are giving the Democrats a golden
opportunity to do what is right for America and stand up for principle. The
Democrats better not screw up this once in a lifetime chance. The Democrats
were NOT elected to Congress so they could lie around and be complacent. The
Democrats were elected to Congress because the voters oppose the policies of
the Bush administration and want NEW policies. More importantly, The
Democrats were elected to Congress because the voters want the Bush
administration to be held accountable.

Working for justice,

Ivan Espinosa

Member - DFH & PAA

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

Congress Must Investigate Bush Administration Crimes 

-- composed by Jeremy Brecher and Brendan Smith

Few elections in history have provided so clear a mandate. As the New York
Times put it, Democrats were "largely elected on the promise to act as a
strong check on [Bush's] administration."
<http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1114-30.htm#1> [1] But the first
response of the new Congressional leadership has been to proclaim a new era
of civility and seek accommodation with the very people who need to be held
accountable for war crimes and subversion of the Constitution. 

Democratic strategists who argue for this kind of bipartisanship maintain
that the American people want their political leaders to address the
problems of the future, not pursue recriminations about the past. They
therefore oppose the kind of penetrating investigation that a White House
strategist told Time would lead to a "cataclysmic fight to the death"
<http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1114-30.htm#2> [2] if Democrats start
issuing subpoenas. If such "peace at any price" Democrats prevail, the
result will be a catastrophe not only for the Democratic party but for
American democracy.

Establishing accountability will require a thorough investigation of the
actions of the Bush administration and, if they have included crimes or
abuses, ensuring that these are properly addressed by Congress and the
courts. The purpose of such action is not to play "gotcha" based on hearsay
and newspaper clippings. Investigation, exposure, and even prosecution or
select committee proceedings, should they become necessary, are primarily
means for reestablishing the rule of law. But such investigations may be
blocked by the Democratic leadership unless American citizens and
progressive Democrats in particular demand them. Here are ten reasons why
they should: 

1.	The US faces a constitutional crisis that goes far beyond either
partisan politics or isolated acts of wrongdoing. The Bush administration
has tried to replace the constitutional rule of law with the power of the
Executive branch to disregard both the laws established by the Legislative
branch and the judgments of the Judicial branch. It has cloaked this power
grab with a mantle of secrecy. Only by demonstrating the power of Congress
to know what the Executive branch does can even the possibility of
constitutional checks and balances be restored. The prerequisite for
oversight is the right to know. Unless Congress successfully asserts that
right, the Executive's usurpation of power will be permanent and unlimited.
2.	The Democrats are in danger of walking into a death trap the Bush
administration and the Republican leadership are setting for them. The
Democrats won the election on ending the Iraq war and holding the President
accountable. In the current courtship they are being invited to come up onto
the bridge of the Titanic and share responsibility for the catastrophe. If
they do that, they will end up at the 2008 election with a disillusioned
public (especially their own base) who give them equal blame for the war and
its catastrophic consequences. As the Nationl recently editorialized,
"Democrats must not forget the voters' message. If they collaborate in
allowing continued bloodletting in Iraq, they will pay the price themselves
in future elections." <http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1114-30.htm#3>
[3]
3.	Defending the Constitution by investigating breaches in the rule of
law will allow Democrats to appeal to new bases of support among
independents and others concerned about the rule of law. It provides a way
of reaching out without selling out. The potential for such a broad and
powerful coalition is exemplified by a recent statement by the Constitution
Project -- which includes both liberals and conservatives like David Keene,
Chair of the American Conservative Union -- that hails the election result
as "an opportunity to restore checks and balances." It says, "The president
has asserted that he has virtually unrestrained authority and that Congress
and the courts have none. Congress must exercise, and the president must
respect, its constitutional obligation to legislate and conduct oversight on
issues like NSA wiretapping, military commissions, the detention and
treatment of 'enemy combatants,' habeas corpus, and the power to declare
war." If the Republicans were able to win by running on the Bible, Democrats
can do far better by running on the Constitution and restoring the rule of
law.
4.	Bush still holds most of the institutional cards on foreign policy,
especially given his claims that the President can exercise authority
without Congressional constraint. Short of an unlikely cutoff of funds, he
can continue to conduct foreign policy and command the military as he
chooses. Congress has few direct levers to impose Democratic proposals for
new diplomatic initiatives or troop redeployments. It does not even have
effective institutional means to stop further Bush administration
adventures, such as an attack on Iran. The key to establishing power over
foreign and military policy is to so discredit the Administration in the
eyes of the public that neither Republican politicians nor the military, the
intelligence agencies, the foreign policy establishment, or the corporate
elite will allow it to continue on its catastrophic course. And that
requires not friendly negotiations with the White House to find a formula
for bipartisan packaging of policy decisions Bush has already made, but a
devastating exposure of the criminality, corruption, stupidity, and false
premises of those who are making the decisions.
5.	A Democratic Congress that fails to assert its prerogatives against
the President will soon find itself losing the initiative in the face of the
President's capacity to frame issues. While investigations are sometime
portrayed as purely negative acts, by putting the Administration on the
defensive they may actually lay the groundwork for constructive Democratic
proposals.
6.	A majority of the American people and an overwhelming proportion of
grassroots Democrats want the President impeached. A mobilization for
impeachment was kicked off last weekend with speeches by Elizabeth Holtzman,
Cindy Sheehan, and others. Serious investigation of Bush administration
malfeasance is probably the only way that Democratic leaders reluctant to
pursue impeachment can avoid themselves becoming the target of this
constituency. Indeed, impeachment advocates can be encouraged to direct some
of their energy to supporting such investigations on the grounds that
exposure of high crimes and misdemeanors might be the only way to put
impeachment "on the table."
7.	Exposing the truth about America's actions in the world over the
past years, and holding those responsible for it accountable, is the
prerequisite to setting relations with the world on a new, more constructive
basis. As Philippe Sands, professor at University College London and a
leading international human rights lawyer, puts it, "If the United States is
to re-engage effectively with the rest of the world they have to resurrect
accountability for their high officials."
8.	The US government under the Bush administration has systematically
and flagrantly violated national and international law. If the perpetrators
of these crimes are given permanent impunity with the collusion of Congress,
future law-breakers will assume that they can commit similar crimes with
impunity. Whether or not Bush administration officials can be subject to
criminal prosecution or impeachment, the exposure of their acts can subject
them to the kind of public repudiation they deserve. That can begin setting
us back on a track toward international law that restrains crimes by the
leaders of all nations, however great or small. For as Antoine Bernard,
executive director of the International Federation of Human Rights, has
said, "The key to peace and democracy building world-wide is accountability
for international crimes."
9.	Hearings and investigations are crucial means to establishing
institutional and cultural barriers to future crimes. At the close of the
Vietnam war, the Church Committee established significant limits on
executive authority, such as a strengthened Freedom of Information Act and a
ban on assassination of foreign leaders. These were originally passed over
the objection of then presidential aide Dick Cheney, and he devoted his
Vice-Presidency to dismantling them. Investigation of such Executive abuses
is the prerequisite for restoring public access to government information
and developing new oversight mechanisms to enforce bans on torture,
wiretapping, aggression, executive secrecy, and other illegal and
unconstitutional executive activity. 
10.	Setting the public record straight about what has happened over the
past six years is essential for reestablishing discourse based on reality
that can be tested by evidence and argument, rather than on fantasy
propagated by national leaders and amplified by their media sycophants. A
respect for truth pursued through honest dialogue based on evidence and
argument will be essential not only for beginning to heal the wounds created
by Bush's illegal war of aggression, but for addressing problems like global
warming that a fantasy-based public discourse has evaded.

52% of Americans believe that investigating the origins of the Iraq war is a
high priority and 58% want Congress to pursue contracting fraud in Iraq.
<http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1114-30.htm#4> [4] But that will not
automatically translate into action by Congress. Convincing the Democratic
leadership to support investigations will require sustained pressure from
outside groups. This pressure needs to build early-before the new
legislative session begins-so the Leadership perceives efforts to squash
committee action as politically hazardous.

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