Today's Article
A return to
democracy must be
demanded by We
The People, or it
won't happen at all.
democracy must be
demanded by We
The People, or it
won't happen at all.
The American Spark
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How Americans May Finally Reign In Bush White House
By Cliff Montgomery - Dec. 21th, 2007
The Bush Administration--and the neo-conservative movement from which it came--thrives on logical fallacy. Its
deliberately misleading rhetoric has given it a frightening power to distort, disrupt, and destroy the American
democratic experiment.
But fewer and fewer people now buy the outright lies of the movement which produced the long, national
nightmare known as the George W. Bush Administration. This became apparent after it was revealed that
Bush's CIA destroyed videotapes which may reveal acts of torture by the agency.
U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy is overseeing a lawsuit by prisoners of the Guantanamo Bay naval base in
Cuba, who charge that their detention is unjust. Judge Kennedy had ruled that the Bush Administration must
not destroy evidence of abuse or mistreatment.
Kennedy ordered a Friday hearing--over the objections of the Bush Justice Department--after questions were
raised on whether other possibly pertinent evidence may have been destroyed by this White House or its
agencies.
Judge Kennedy may order Bush Administration officials to testify about the videotapes, which were made in
2002 and apparently were destroyed in 2005.
Knowing the "idiot king" in the White House has again done wrong is one thing, however. Holding him
accountable for his illegal actions is something else.
What then can be done to stop this slow neo-conservative destruction of democracy and denial of natural
right? For seven years, Americans have perhaps foolishly trusted in little more than a weak-kneed
Congress--whether run by Republicans or Democrats--and a U.S. judiciary which itself is packed with
neo-conservatives, to protect their eroding freedoms.
Congressional intelligence committee leaders have revealed a disgusting level of self-doubt and incompetence
when it comes to holding this White House accountable for any wrong it performs.
"For seven years, I have witnessed first-hand how the [Senate] Intelligence Committee has been continually
frustrated in its efforts to understand and evaluate sensitive intelligence activities by an administration that
responds to legislative oversight requests with indifference, if not out-right disdain," declared Senate
Intelligence Committee chairman Jay Rockefeller at a congressional hearing last month.
"For years, the White House and the Intelligence Community have repeatedly withheld information and
documents--even unclassified documents--from the Committee that we have asked for," he added.
But there is one power which Congress may be forced to employ if We The People are to restore a level of
checks and balances to our formerly democratic government: the control of our taxpayer dollars.
Even tyrants need money. Congress controls the government purse strings. And if Americans get loud
enough, we may instill some fear into even the most dense congresspeople and presidential candidates as we
slide into an election year.
Former Representative Lee Hamilton in November gave an instructive testimony at a Senate Intelligence
Committee hearing. There he laid out the inherent oversight power of the government purse so clearly that
even the current Congress could understand it.
"Okay, [Bush Administration agencies] don't share information. What do you do about it? You've only got one
tool: 'If you don't give us this information, you're not going to get the money.' That's it," Hamilton pointed out to
stunned committee members on November 13th.
Believe it or not, current congresspeople appear never to have considered employing this clear oversight
authority on an out-of-control White House.
"I think you've given us a game-changing scenario," Senator Kit Bond (R-MO) replied to Hamilton at the
hearing.
Using congressional appropriations authority as a check on Executive Branch power goes back to the first
days of the American Republic, noted Louis Fisher in a Congressional Research Service study released in
2001.
"Presidents may have to surrender documents they consider sensitive or confidential in order to obtain funds
from Congress to implement programs important to the executive branch. This congressional leverage is
evident in a number of early executive-legislative confrontations," Fisher wrote.
But such a move won't come from a Congress this cowardly. It must be demanded by We The People, or it
won't happen at all.
Like what you're reading so far? Then why not order a full year (52 issues) of the The American Spark
e-newsletter for only $15? A major article covering an story not being told in the Corporate Press will be
delivered to your email every Monday morning for a full year, for less than 30 cents an issue. Order Now!
By Cliff Montgomery - Dec. 21th, 2007
The Bush Administration--and the neo-conservative movement from which it came--thrives on logical fallacy. Its
deliberately misleading rhetoric has given it a frightening power to distort, disrupt, and destroy the American
democratic experiment.
But fewer and fewer people now buy the outright lies of the movement which produced the long, national
nightmare known as the George W. Bush Administration. This became apparent after it was revealed that
Bush's CIA destroyed videotapes which may reveal acts of torture by the agency.
U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy is overseeing a lawsuit by prisoners of the Guantanamo Bay naval base in
Cuba, who charge that their detention is unjust. Judge Kennedy had ruled that the Bush Administration must
not destroy evidence of abuse or mistreatment.
Kennedy ordered a Friday hearing--over the objections of the Bush Justice Department--after questions were
raised on whether other possibly pertinent evidence may have been destroyed by this White House or its
agencies.
Judge Kennedy may order Bush Administration officials to testify about the videotapes, which were made in
2002 and apparently were destroyed in 2005.
Knowing the "idiot king" in the White House has again done wrong is one thing, however. Holding him
accountable for his illegal actions is something else.
What then can be done to stop this slow neo-conservative destruction of democracy and denial of natural
right? For seven years, Americans have perhaps foolishly trusted in little more than a weak-kneed
Congress--whether run by Republicans or Democrats--and a U.S. judiciary which itself is packed with
neo-conservatives, to protect their eroding freedoms.
Congressional intelligence committee leaders have revealed a disgusting level of self-doubt and incompetence
when it comes to holding this White House accountable for any wrong it performs.
"For seven years, I have witnessed first-hand how the [Senate] Intelligence Committee has been continually
frustrated in its efforts to understand and evaluate sensitive intelligence activities by an administration that
responds to legislative oversight requests with indifference, if not out-right disdain," declared Senate
Intelligence Committee chairman Jay Rockefeller at a congressional hearing last month.
"For years, the White House and the Intelligence Community have repeatedly withheld information and
documents--even unclassified documents--from the Committee that we have asked for," he added.
But there is one power which Congress may be forced to employ if We The People are to restore a level of
checks and balances to our formerly democratic government: the control of our taxpayer dollars.
Even tyrants need money. Congress controls the government purse strings. And if Americans get loud
enough, we may instill some fear into even the most dense congresspeople and presidential candidates as we
slide into an election year.
Former Representative Lee Hamilton in November gave an instructive testimony at a Senate Intelligence
Committee hearing. There he laid out the inherent oversight power of the government purse so clearly that
even the current Congress could understand it.
"Okay, [Bush Administration agencies] don't share information. What do you do about it? You've only got one
tool: 'If you don't give us this information, you're not going to get the money.' That's it," Hamilton pointed out to
stunned committee members on November 13th.
Believe it or not, current congresspeople appear never to have considered employing this clear oversight
authority on an out-of-control White House.
"I think you've given us a game-changing scenario," Senator Kit Bond (R-MO) replied to Hamilton at the
hearing.
Using congressional appropriations authority as a check on Executive Branch power goes back to the first
days of the American Republic, noted Louis Fisher in a Congressional Research Service study released in
2001.
"Presidents may have to surrender documents they consider sensitive or confidential in order to obtain funds
from Congress to implement programs important to the executive branch. This congressional leverage is
evident in a number of early executive-legislative confrontations," Fisher wrote.
But such a move won't come from a Congress this cowardly. It must be demanded by We The People, or it
won't happen at all.
Like what you're reading so far? Then why not order a full year (52 issues) of the The American Spark
e-newsletter for only $15? A major article covering an story not being told in the Corporate Press will be
delivered to your email every Monday morning for a full year, for less than 30 cents an issue. Order Now!