GW gives Congress another smackdown

So, once again the prez has demonstrated to America that he is indeed king of us all and if we don’t like it, tough! With the signing of the the new-and-improved Patriot Act, and after all reporters left eye-sight, he added yet another “signing statement”.

In the statement, Bush said that he did not consider himself bound to tell Congress how the Patriot Act powers were being used and that, despite the law’s requirements, he could withhold the information if he decided that disclosure would ”impair foreign relations, national security, the deliberative process of the executive, or the performance of the executive’s constitutional duties.”

Bush wrote: ”The executive branch shall construe the provisions . . . that call for furnishing information to entities outside the executive branch . . . in a manner consistent with the president’s constitutional authority to supervise the unitary executive branch and to withhold information . . . “(source)

So all that work by Bush’s pet Congresspeople was for naught. There will be no compromises with this administration, because the king makes the law and decides if he’s going to follow it. They can make all the laws they want to make the lowly citizenry feel better, of course. Doesn’t mean those laws actually mean anything. I hate to say “I told ya so”, but, um…yeah, you get the point.

I was thinking to myself “what does this remind me of?”, meaning all these smacks that Congress has been getting from the king lately. And then it hit me (pun intended). Congress is like the victim in an abusive relationship. They keep thinking that the prez is going to come to his senses and be nice to them- if only they do this or that right for once. So they keep trying to appease him, so that the abuse will stop. But it never works.

BAM!
SMACK!
STAY DOWN, BITCH!

Everytime they’re little hearts are broken because the man they love so much is kicking them in the teeth. Then there is a little honeymoon period where he’s the gentleman and gives them something to prove he still loves them- a decent appointee, a little limelight. That just keeps them coming back for more. And the cycle continues.

Somehow our Congress needs rescued from this never-ending cycle of shame and humiliation. I realize that they have to hit rock bottom and maybe their children need to be put in danger of getting smacked by the king before they find the courage to fight back. But can we afford to wait that long? If we continue to stand idly it may be too late. He may just kill Congress with the next smackdown. They need an intervention to see the danger that they’re in, the certain death of the Constitution they’re sworn to protect.

Watching Congress take these continuous licks is heartbreaking. But even more heartbreaking is watching the beatdown of those that want the violence to end. Will no one stand up for Russ Feingold and offer assistance to his attempt at saving his family? Why do the victims continue to fight those that would save them from their tormenter? They seem to relish their pain and look forward to the frustration, getting angry at those that would save them from that.

What kind of debasement is too much for the Congresspeople? What kind of hit is too hard? Where are the people the Congress needs for protection against their abuser?

Yesterday, Leahy said Bush’s assertion that he could ignore the new provisions of the Patriot Act — provisions that were the subject of intense negotiations in Congress — represented ”nothing short of a radical effort to manipulate the constitutional separation of powers and evade accountability and responsibility for following the law.”

”The president’s signing statements are not the law, and Congress should not allow them to be the last word,” Leahy said in a prepared statement. ”The president’s constitutional duty is to faithfully execute the laws as written by the Congress, not cherry-pick the laws he decides he wants to follow. It is our duty to ensure, by means of congressional oversight, that he does so.“

Ha, strong words for someone picking himself up from the floor after a hefty beat down. And you don’t seem to be able to do your job, Mr.Senator, because of your love of the abuser. Maybe, instead of watching him declare war on the United States Constitution, you should do your real job and remove the bully. Screw oversight. Do that with the next president. We can no longer afford to keep this one.