The Stink That Won’t Go Away by Stephen Hanchett

[Joanne98]

Alberto Gonzales wears a perpetual smirk that seems to say, “Don’t you realize how much fun it is to keep telling these lies to people who can’t do a single thing about it?” It’s just as if he and Bush were cloned from the same ugly smirk. He’s lied so many times under oath before Congress that even Republicans need a shower after questioning him. They could replace all the furniture and fumigate the Judiciary committee room, but the stink won’t go away until he does.

Alberto makes you question the sanity – let alone the logic - of putting anyone at all into prison, just so long as crooks like him are still roaming free. There are about 12 million Hispanics in the country illegally, but he’s the only Hispanic I have ever seen with such complete contempt for America, our Constitution, and the rule of law.

The idea that he heads up the most important law enforcement agency speaks volumes about our government, and it means that the biggest crooks are now in charge of putting lesser crooks in jail. The most sadistic men in prison are probably not responsible for as much pain and suffering as torture-boy Gonzales. Our justice department has become a criminal conspiracy unto itself, and most of its time and energies seem devoted to rationalizing illegal torture, detention, and wiretapping, and covering up the crimes of Gonzales, Rove, Cheney, and Bush.

For all practical purposes, the Justice Department has been transformed into the legal arm of the Republican party. It's comprised of taxpayer funded lawyers supplied by the right-wing ‘federalist society,’ whose political mission is to convict Democrats and cover-up the crimes of Republicans. In that sense, justice in America is now on the same level as justice in Cuba, North Korea, Communist China, or any other one-party state.

Remember the good old days? There was once a time when a crooked government official would resign gracefully after being caught in the web of their own lies – perhaps as a way of accepting responsibility and minimizing the damage to the nation. Their quick departure told us that they still had enough decency to realize that what they did was wrong – they weren’t complete sociopaths - and they were willing to begin paying the price.

But previous crooks were saints compared to the sociopaths that now plague the halls of government. Where there is no honor left there is no shame either. Now they tell us that they accept responsibility for their misdeeds, but then hang onto public office like a cancer. Accepting responsibility has become merely a public relations ploy: They say mistakes were made so they can continue making the same mistakes and committing the same crimes, while blaming everyone else for the consequences. They’re essentially saying to us, “Yea, I’m a crook. I know it. So what are you going to do about it.?” The question is…what are we going to do?

Yesterday, the New York Times ran an editorial calling for Congress to impeach Gonzales if the justice department fails to appoint a special prosecutor. But one of the reasons that Bush won’t fire Gonzales is because he and the Solicitor General will never appoint a special prosecutor to look into the administration’s crimes. So that only leaves the other option.

Article Two of the Constitution outlines the powers of the presidency, and the final section reads: “The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”

Notice that it doesn’t say that the Congress can remove officers of the executive branch for high crimes and misdemeanors if they feel like it – it specifically says that they “shall be removed.” It is an imperative and a Constitutional obligation that Congress remove corrupt officials from our government, in the event that the Executive branch refuses to do so.

It is significant that this Constitutional obligation for Congress to impeach, try, and remove corrupt officials is not listed under Section 1, which lists the powers of Congress, but under Section 2, which lists the powers of the executive branch. The founding fathers purposely included this section as a vital check on executive power, and as a way of warning the executive branch that even though they have been given the power to enforce the laws, they themselves are never above the law. It was their way of both warning the president and obligating the Congress to enforce the rule of law. It was their way of ensuring that everyone remained equal under the law.

It follows that if Congress refuses to do its duty, they then become co-conspirators in breaking down the rule of law. They cannot complain that Gonzales is perjuring himself and breaking the law and yet refuse to carry out their own duty under the highest law in the land – our Constitution. The politics involved should have absolutely no bearing whatsoever on whether or not to enforce the law. How can the Democrats complain about the manner in which the Republicans have politicized the Justice Department, if they themselves refuse to impeach Gonzales because they’re afraid of the political fallout? It’s just another way of sacrificing justice on the alter of political expediency.

Indeed, the Democrats really ought to be much more afraid of the political fallout than they are. They seem much more optimistic about their future than they have any right to be. Because if Democrats fail to uphold the rule of law, they will ultimately be seen as just as corrupt in the eyes of the American people. Any moral advantage they may seem to have gained over a corrupt administration will then have been squandered. Making every Republican in Congress choose between their own party and the rule of law is like saying “heads I win, tails you lose.” Because those who blindly choose their party will surely be punished at the polls.

It ultimately doesn’t matter in the long run whether Gonzales (or Bush and Cheney) can actually be removed from office – or if there are enough votes to pull it off in the Senate. What really matters (and what the American people are watching to see) is whether there is a party in Washington that cares about the rule of law. Because if there isn’t, than we are all sunk.

Sometimes you have to do the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do. The Constitution was written by people who pretty much knew what they were doing. They certainly weren’t perfect, and the Constitution isn’t Holy Scripture, but it established a framework for maintaining the rule of law and resolving political crises. Believing in the Constitution means having the courage, not only to defend it, but to do what it says. It involves a certain measure of faith. Our political leaders talk a lot about the Constitution, the trouble is, they don’t seem to have any faith in it.

Political parties have come and gone, been up and down, while constantly changing their positions throughout the history of the Republic. Only the Constitution is the same. Our government is so caught up in the political game that they have forgotten that their primary obligation under the Constitution is to maintain a government accountable to the people and accountable to the law. Democracy and the rule of law are two sides of the same coin, and you can’t deface one without making the other side worthless. A government that’s not accountable to the law is no longer accountable to the people either.

There is a grass roots movement for impeachment in America because people can feel their government slipping away from them. That we continue to escalate a war, which most people know has been a tragic mistake from the beginning, is symptomatic of the contempt that our government has for us. The American people understand that if we have been left to choose between two corrupt political parties, both of which refuse to obey the Constitution and uphold the rule of law, that we no longer have any meaningful role in selecting our government. A corporate aristocracy has assumed that role, and our new Constitution is their bottom line.
posted by R. Stephen Hanchett at 12:13 PM
http://isbushantichrist.blogspot.com/

[eppur_se_muova]

1. Warner Bros' least popular cartoon character -- "Le Pew" Gonzalez

(No PhotoShop -- sorry)

[Joanne98]

2. Is that who that was. LOL

[tom_paine]

6. Sorry, that is incorrect.

You have confused two Loony Tunes Characters


Pepe Le Pew



Speedy Gonzales



Criminal Gonzales

[eppur_se_muova]

7. Artistic license. Seriously, I was hoping someone could PhotoShop ...

Speedy Gonzales' head onto Pepe Le Pew's body.

[Joanne98]

3. KICK

[Joanne98]

4. KICK

[tom_paine]

5. K & R