|
| “
|
Item 172
in a list of 172
Article II of the Constitution grants Congress the power to impeach
“the president, the vice president and all civil officers of the United
States.” The phrase “civil officers” includes the members of the
cabinet (one of whom, Secretary of War William Belknap, was impeached
in 1876).
*snip*
A cabinet officer, like a judge or a president, may be impeached only
for commission of “high crimes and misdemeanors.” But as the Nixon and
Clinton impeachment debates reminded us, that constitutional phrase
embraces not only indictable crimes but “conduct ... grossly
incompatible with the office held and subversive of that office and of
our constitutional system of government.”
*snip*
An attorney general called before Congress to discuss the workings of
the Justice Department can claim the protection of “executive
privilege” and, if challenged, can defend the (doubtful) legitimacy of
such a claim in the courts. But having elected to testify, he
has no right to lie, either by affirmatively misrepresenting facts or
by falsely claiming not to remember events.
*snip*
The real question is whether Republicans and
Democrats are prepared to defend the constitutional authority of
Congress against the implicit claim of an administration that it can do
what it pleases and, when called to account, send an attorney general
of the United States to Capitol Hill to commit amnesia on its behalf.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com
...
Of
course, the NYT is the paper of record.
|
|
” |
|
I think they took an oath to defend the Constitution but maybe even that oath is a living document and doesnt mean what it did a year or two ago. There aint 5 balls to share in all of Congress and a woman has two of em.
ReplyDeleteTom, I'm not trying to be snarky, but Democrats see the Constitution as a flawed documment. They, presuming the moral high ground, have the responsibility to interpret it the right way. And they are by-god just one high court judge removed from any impediment to that end. We have to throw them down a volcano. Meet at the barn tonight.
ReplyDeleteHmmm, I seem to remember that John Mitchell, the then Atty General of the US, was at least convicted and thrown in jail... I marveled at the time to SAL{old buddy} that the USA could handle the fact that the "Head Dude" of Law Enforcement {MY words} could get thrown in jail and the country was still ticking...
ReplyDeletetomw
Dems tried to shoot down Indiana's Voter ID law but SCOTUS ruled the law constitutional.
ReplyDeleteI see where a Wisconsin judge just ruled their Voter ID law to be contrary to the state constitution - which just didn't say a word about an ID! (Are you kidding me?)
Seems to me that everyone is ignoring the Supreme Court's ruling.
Holder knows he'll ultimately lose. Until then, the progressive machine will subvert the vote in Texas.
ReplyDeleteImpeachment is too kind. I think the man is a traitor.
Constitution? What Constitution? The Obama gang of criminals (Obama himself, Shyster General Holder, Treasury Secretary Tax-Cheat Geithner, and the other various and sundry crooks) don't need no steenking Constitution. They are the country's uber-elite ruling class and it is about goddam time we all realize that. And forget about Joe Biden. He's just too frigging dumb to know the difference. If brains were dynamite he couldn't blow his nose.
ReplyDeleteOne more thing: We need to get either Santorum or Gingrich nominated this summer. If Romney gets the nomination, we can forget about any decent Republican getting into the White House for another four years (or impeachment of The Komrade Doofus Obama, whichever comes first). In 2016, I look for Sarah Palin to run for President and she will likely get elected.
Scottiebill