What do we do about an administration which has been a consistent lawbreaker and which has successfully misused the law in order to protect itself?
Someone -- "bmaz" -- wrote a superb comment at FireDogLake during live blogging of the Gonzales hearing. I admit it: that hearing has put me in a vile mood which I probably share with just about everyone else who saw or heard the hearing. (And if we feel awful, think of how Leahy and the rest must feel...)
We have the spectre (no pun intended) of an administration getting away with stuff so heinous that there's going to be fallout for years, decades. Commenter "bmaz" put it like this:
[Justices] Frankfurter and Learned Hand are really two of the historical “go to” guys in these areas, and the conclusion that acceptance is effectively ratification and waiver of objection is exactly the right conclusion to draw. You can see it in play as we speak with the residuals of Watergate and Iran/Contra.
In other words, if we allow this stuff to pass and the Bush administration to graduate into history with no grade, just the opinions of loud, well-paid rightwing activists, then we'll pay a heavy price in the form of more Bush-style administrations in the future. Ambitious and unscrupulous American politicians will have learned how to game the Constitution and get away with it.
This is precisely why I have been a raving lunatic for months at TNH about the necessity of initiating an impeachment investigation, even if it is only as to Gonzales to start. Running out the clock in order to protect our majorities, gain some seats and install a Democratic administration does not cut it. That is akin to doing some public service announcements and hoping crime disappears in your community.
The facts and extent of harm must be fleshed out in a formal investigation, the public must be allowed to understand the full nature and extent of what has occurred, and those responsible must be held to account. If not, the ugly beast continues to raise it’s ugly head with impunity in the future.
More interesting discussion of this continues at FireDogLake -- here.
There's a solution (short of impeachment) that's under discussion: Congress can vote itself special powers and get around being the underdog in this situation. Specifically, Melanie Sloan, of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), writes:
Congress could pass a statute specifically granting federal courts the authority to hear either just this specific matter or to hear any cases involving the enforcement of congressional subpoenas against the executive branch. In 1973, the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Finances sought civil enforcement of its subpoena for Watergate tapes and documents. After a lower court refused to hear the matter, Congress passed legislation authorizing jurisdiction over just this specific suit.
