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This is the End of the Arrogance

By Alexa

Will he or won't he? Mad speculation, rumor and "sources close to the President-Elect" nonwithstanding, only Barack Obama knows the content and order of his priorities. ("Sources close to" may well know, but they aren't yacking it up on the teevee talk panels or writing Op-Eds.)

No president in United States history will be inaugurated with the "imperial presidency" levels of power that George W. Bush bequeaths upon leaving the White House. What will President Obama do with these unprecedented powers? From every corner of the world, there is advice for the President-Elect; some of it quite frankly laughable; some of it partisan; some of it reasonable.

Let's consider "executive privilege" for a moment. In the context of all we know about Barack Obama, and all we've observed, read and heard from him, there's no indication that he would need or want such ginormous power and privilege.

 
Executive privilege is the idea that a president should be able to shield his staff from congressional or legal inquiries because staffers who know they could potentially be subpoenaed may not feel as free and open to give the president candid advice. This is nonsense.

In the 1974 case U.S. v. Nixon, the Court upheld the general notion that presidential aids should be granted some room to speak candidly without fear of subpoena, but the Court also thoroughly rejected Nixon's claim of "absolute privilege." The ruling-that there's some privilege, but not absolute privilege-left a lot of gray area. Subsequent presidents Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, and George H.W. Bush periodically invoked executive privilege, but it was the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations that really abused the idea.

Bill Clinton invoked executive privilege to keep the health care task forces held by his wife Hillary Clinton shielded from federal open meetings laws. He would again invoke the doctrine to stymie investigations into Hillary Clinton's firing of White House Travel Office employees, and then again to prevent his aides from testifying in the Monica Lewinsky case (he lost that particular fight in court).

George W. Bush moved early to shore up executive privilege, blocking efforts to investigate his predecessor Clinton's role in the fundraising scandal involving campaign contributions from non-U.S. citizens. He also blocked investigations into Clinton Attorney General Janet Reno. Bush's non-partisan deference to presidential power reaped benefits, as he'd go on to invoke executive privilege to thwart attempts by Congress to look into his own administration's scandals, including the U.S. attorney firings, years of missing White House emails, and the cover-up of the friendly fire death of U.S. Army Ranger and former NFL star Pat Tillman.

What we see, over and over, is that the executive privilege doctrine is most often invoked to prevent congressional committees, independent counsel, and other oversight bodies from investigating possible legal and ethical breaches by members of the executive branch. It's not being used to promote candor and open dialogue among presidential advisers, but to prevent the public from learning about possible abuses of power by members of the administration, and from holding those members accountable.

Above The Law
From the beginning of his first term, George W. Bush has taken the position that as the President of the United States, he was above the law.

Even though the war and occupation of Iraq have been one of the key issues to support Bush´s record breaking "most unpopular president ever," with a long-term, almost permanent approval rating of below 30%, there are additional areas of concern by most Americans that reinforce such a lack of support for President Bush.

Signing Statements and Executive Orders
As an example of the citizens disapproval, in 2008, Bush has already enacted 23 executive orders, and he has presented a record total of 279 signing statements to date.

Virtually all of these executive orders are demonstrations of Bush and his administration´s blatant arrogance and their attempts to circumvent US law and to bypass any interference by the US Congress.

Today, most of America is eagerly awaiting for President-Elect Barack Obama to take the oath of office so that he can fulfill one of his campaign promises.

That promise is that, if elected, he would "have his newly designated Attorney General review all of Bush´s uses of executive powers with a special eye to those that have trampled on American´s liberty."

With so many executive orders from Bush over the past eight years, the review activity could take years for a legal review to be completed and to be reacted to, which I´m sure is exactly what Bush, and his side-kick Dick Cheney, had intended from the beginning.

The following are some examples of the obvious areas from Bush´s executive orders that Obama and his team will be tackling soon after the inauguration:

• Stop allowing the drilling for oil in environmentally sensitive areas of the United States.
• Overturning the ban on stem cell research.
• The return of Habeas Corpus to all American citizens.
• The closing of the Military Detention Center at Guantanamo Bay.

John Podesta, Obama's transition chief, said this week:

"Obama is reviewing President Bush's executive orders on these issues and others as he works to undo policies enacted during eight years of Republican rule." He said the president can use such orders to move quickly on his own.

"There's a lot that the president can do using his own executive authority without waiting for congressional action, and I think we'll see the president do that," Podesta said. "I think that he feels like he has a real mandate for change. We need to get off the course that the Bush administration has set."

The Globe and Mail;
San Jose Mercury News;
UPI

There is much to look forward to when Obama takes office in 68 days.

Full post as published by Never In Our Names on November 15, 2008 (boomark / email).