Why do presidents and their staffs feel they are answerable only to themselves? Do they think they’re above the law? Where in the constitution does it say the executive branch has final say or ultimate authority over the legislative and judicial branches?
Administrations use every trick they can find to dodge giving answers on sensitive issues or incidents that have escalated beyond their control. Whether a leak, misstatement, blatant error or whistleblower, if they’re not ready to explain what happened they ignore and procrastinate to buy time, until it goes away.
There are many issues and topics we can address these days, like balancing the budget, debt reduction, capping the debt ceiling, fixing immigration policy, building a border fence, Obamacare, intrusive homeland surveillance, foreign policy, taxation, entitlements and the failing social security & Medicare programs, and these don’t even mention Fast & Furious, White House security leaks, Justice Dept Spying or Benghazi.
But what’s the point of debating when it appears a president has the final word? It doesn’t seem to matter how serious it is, even if it’s tainted with criminality. If he decides to stonewall with legal tricks/technical maneuvers, if he simply refuses to cooperate, congress and the courts seem powerless to force his hand.
I don’t care if he invokes executive privilege, national security, the public’s need to know, whatever, the result is the same. We are left dangling with no closure. Laws may have been broken, unacceptable misjudgements/improprieties may have occurred, damages suffered, people may have died. If the president wants to block investigations, stall congress, laugh at the courts, that’s what he does again and again.
This kind of presidential license/fiat makes mockery of our entire governmental structure, denying us the checks/balances the founders intended: their biggest concern being an out-of-control, tyrannical government catering to the whims of a momentary, despotic prince. President as king.
Do we want this? Maybe so, judging by recent events. Scandals proliferate with no consequence. Senior officials/managers aren’t held responsible, casually lie with impunity, feign lack of lack awareness or ignorance. Declare truculently they’ll look into it, decide for themselves what happened, what needs to be done.
Trouble is, they never do, and we the people remain apathetic, accepting their hubris. It’s like, we voted them in and trust they’ll do the right thing. They know more than us. They’ll act in the best interests of the nation.
Will they? Politics, political correctness, unpaid debt, misguided loyalty, arrogance of power, personal ambition, a sullied character, denying one’s duty, a lack of integrity, over-stepping authority, self-righteous megalomania. These all work against us to undermine the propriety and majesty of our national government.
Benghazi screams for justice, but those hearings & others were a waste of time. It seems senators/congressmen are totally enfeebled by a caeser’s dictatorial scorn.
Is there no body, no personage, who can reign in such arrogant will, such usurpation of authority, such unlicensed/unconstitutional excess of executive power? We the people should consider this well, before going too far down this road . . .
You’ve been reading Shaneview
I’m Al Shane
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