Rick, we need to talk (more ranting)
22 08 2007Scott Ayers has a rundown of their meeting with Rep Larsen:
U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen thinks Congress is getting a bad rap.
In his meeting with our editorial board Monday, Larsen said that he thinks the current Congress deserves more credit than the current low approval-ratings polls indicate. He pointed to several pieces of legislation he thinks show that this Congress is making progress[.]
In discussing Congress’ low approval ratings yesterday, I noted that Bush followers and media pundits simply invent facts about these ratings that are plainly false. In particular, they repeatedly claim that Congress’ low approval ratings are due to its excessive investigations of the administration — which, they never tire of telling us, Americans do not like — as well as Congress’ failure to co-operate with the President in a bi-partisan way. That is a pure expression of conventional Beltway wisdom.
On cue, former Bush official Peter Wehner, writing on the Commentary blog, asserted that these negative Congressional polling numbers reveal that “Democrats are paying a high price for their hyper-partisanship. They appear angry, zealous, and vengeful, far more interested in investigations than legislation.” Right-wing blogger McQ cited as one reason for the unpopularity that Democrats “spent all their time $investigating marginal, and to most Americans, unimportant things while accomplishing nothing of importance.”
There’s some wisdom in this attack, and as usual it’s the exact opposite of what those idiots are saying. The disgust with Congress is based on the fact that they don’t appear “angry, zealous, and vengeful” enough. The rotten FISA “reform” passed, the Military Commissions Act is still on the books, and there doesn’t seem to be any traction on getting out of Iraq. Impeachment proceedings, or even just something as simple as a censure, don’t seem to be taken seriously.
No one is saying that you need to march on the White House and kick the door in, but make them sweat. Right now they are in open defiance of the Congress and the will of the people, and you guys don’t seem to be very active in punishing them for it. If they think they can ignore a subpoena, put them in chains and let them not answer questions that way.
The message will be sent, either way. Nixon ran off like a bandit and was never held accountable, and that taught the current generation that they can get away with anything. This time, we want you to bring the bastards down, restore some sense of honor and dignity to the presidency, and for the love of God make sure that everyone in the world understands that there are some things that you can not get away with.
The EFF puts it better than I can:
Tough talk is not enough — after all, Congress has already made numerous requests for critical information about the spying program and let the President dodge them again and again. Instead of forcing his hand, it practically rewarded his evasiveness by capitulating to the Administration’s outrageous demands and radically expanding domestic spying powers earlier this month.
Congress cannot allow itself to be pushed around any longer. It needs to make good on its threats and pry the truth out of the Administration using all available means, including by holding it in contempt.
Amen.
