Back in January of this year, former Vice President Al Gore spoke out strongly against what he viewed as "the threat posed by policies of the Bush Administration to the Constitution and the checks and balances it created." In an unusual alliance, Gore was joined in his criticism by Georgia Republican Bob Barr, one of the most conservative members of the House of Representatives when he served there, as well as a fierce defender of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Gore and Barr were troubled and outraged by domestic wiretapping and torture, among other things, under the Bush Administration.Well, now the American Bar Assocation (ABA) - "the largest voluntary professional association in the world... with more than 400,000 members" - has weighed in on yet another abuse of power by the Bush Administration. This time, it's over Bush's "penchant for writing exceptions to laws he has just signed." According to the ABA, that "raises serious concerns crucial to the survival of our democracy" while doing "grave harm to the separation of powers doctrine, and the system of checks and balances that have sustained our democracy for more than two centuries."
Here's the problem. The Constitution specially states that "All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States." It is the Executive Branch's job to carry out that legislation which he has duly signed into law. It is NOT the President's job to decide for himself whether or not he will follow certain laws, or certain parts of laws, under certain conditions of his own choosing. Yet, that is exactly what President Bush has been saying and doing. And that, according to the ABA, is a fundamental threat to our constitutional separation of powers, as well as to our Democracy itself.
So what does George "97% Bush Rubberstamp" Allen have to say about THIS latest outrage? Let me guess, it BORES him? Perhaps he's busy figuring out who the heck the Federal Reserve Chairman is? Or maybe he's dreaming of that day when he no longer has to put up with his horrible life in the Senate, which he complains "move[s] at the pace of a wounded sea slug?"
Who knows what George Allen IS doing. But there's one thing he certainly appears NOT to be doing, and that is upholding his oath as U.S. Senator to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic." Too bad this didn't come up Saturday at the Webb-Allen debate in front of the Virginia Bar Association. That would have been verrrrry interesting.