BRUCE FEIN: Assault on self-government

FEIN: Assault on self-government
Tuesday, August 5, 2008 - http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/05/assault-on-self-government/


COMMENTARY:

Alexander the Great had his self-deification. Napoleon had his self-coronation.

And President George W. Bush envies those examples.

Accordingly, he is attempting to summon into being a monarch-like presidency shielded from review or checking by "We the People of the United States," who ordained the Constitution. President Bush's latest coups de main were commands to former White House counsel Harriet Miers and former White House political adviser Karl Rove to refuse to appear before Congress to answer questions about White House involvement in forced resignations of nine United States attorneys in late 2006 for pliable replacements eager to transform law enforcement into partisan politics by other means.

The public interest in knowing the character of United States attorneys and President Bush's reasons for their nominations or firings to inform their loyalties, energies or voting is compelling. ..........

There is but one way to forestall this constitutional travesty. President Bush should be warned by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that if he neglects to direct Miss Miers and Mr. Rove to testify forthwith before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, he will be impeached immediately for the high crime and misdemeanor of crippling self-government.