Rule O' Law

About time:

Seven of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's top aides are defying subpoenas for their testimony into possible abuse of power by the governor. Palin's Chief of Staff Mike Nizich and six other aides have failed to appear at a legislative hearing Friday into whether Palin abused her power when she fired her public safety commissioner this summer

Nobody could have predicted...

Bush Aides Can Be Subpoenaed

Suck on this:

President George W. Bush's top advisers aren't immune from congressional subpoenas, a federal judge ruled Thursday in an unprecedented dispute between the two political branches.

The House Judiciary Committee wants to question the president's chief of staff, Josh Bolten, and former legal counsel Harriet Miers, about the firing of nine U.S. attorneys. But President Bush says they are immune from such subpoenas. They say Congress can't force them to testify or turn over documents.

U.S. District Judge John Bates disagreed. He said there's no legal basis for that argument. He said that Ms. Miers must appear before Congress and, if she wants to refuse to testify, she must do so in person.

Now if Congress will subpoena them...

Spectator Sport

Leahy fumbles the ball:

"The time is up. The time is up," Leahy announced yesterday. "We've waited long enough."

But what would Leahy do about it? The first questioner riddled Batman with this.

"The full Judiciary Committee will have to sit down and determine whether to seek contempt from the full Senate," said the noncommittal action hero.

Does that mean he would seek a contempt-of-Congress citation? "What I want to do is get the response to these things," Leahy demurred.

Rebecca Carr of Cox News tried again to pin him down, but Leahy continued to escape. "What we have to find out is what happened here," he answered.

How about withholding money from the administration? "Let's take it step by step," he proposed.

Holy incrementalism, Batman!

He had a chance to back up his words with action and demonstrate that Congress still has relevance, but he blew it. I think many of our well-meaning Washington actors do not understand how this sport is played. They think they can say anything or do anything and get away with it. Unfortunately for them, unlike a real sport, there is no coach who decides who to bench and who to field, and there are no last minute comebacks. In this sport, if your fans decide that you are not playing up to snuff they can vote you off the team. Furthermore, politicians words and actions shape their fans' opinions of them. It seems to me that the Beltway crowd views the media and punditry as their coach, which could not be further from reality.

Maybe politics really is a spectator sport after all - but one in which the spectators actually count for something.

Shorter Bush White House

I am the law!!!!

The White House, moving toward a constitutional showdown with Congress, asserted executive privilege Thursday and rejected lawmakers' demands for documents that could shed light on the firings of federal prosecutors.

President Bush's attorney told Congress the White House would not turn over subpoenaed documents for former presidential counsel Harriet Miers and former political director Sara Taylor.

"With respect, it is with much regret that we are forced down this unfortunate path which we sought to avoid by finding grounds for mutual accommodation," White House counsel Fred Fielding said in a letter to the chairmen of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. "We had hoped this matter could conclude with your committees receiving information in lieu of having to invoke executive privilege. Instead, we are at this conclusion."

The Bush administration's definition of mutual accomodation is the same as its definiton of bipartisanship: you accomodate us.

Boy am I glad Henry Waxman is around.

Kagro X discusses some options.