Dave (Rove) Ain't Coming

Our favorite retired politico Karl Rove has today given the final raspberry to the House Judiciary Committee looking into his role in the conviction and incarceration of Don Siegelman, citing executive privilege (which supposedly confers upon him immunity from the requirement to respond to a subpoena). (Be sure to click on the links for the full quotient of fun here.) Nicole Belle at Crooks and Liars affords us the opportunity to enjoy the Dan Abrams interview of NYU Law School Professor Michael Waldman and former HJC counsel Julian Epstein on the consequences (I especially enjoyed the one about arresting Rove and the presence of a jail in the basement of the Capitol) of this "latest in Bush League (In)Justice:"

Abrams: Okay, Michael, let me start with you: it is clear, Karl Rove is not coming. I mean, the House Judiciary Committee can say as much as they want, we’re still hoping, we’re still encouraging him to come, we’re still insisting that he come, he’s not coming. So what do they do now? Waldman: Well, it’s really quite remarkable, as you say, you can just say no to a lawful subpoena from Congress. Congress has a bunch of tools they can use. They can, of course, throw him in jail. There’s a jail in the basement of the Capitol. That’s probably the extreme remedy. There’s all kinds of other things. They can cut off funding, they can hold up nominations, they can bring a lawsuit as has been the case in the Miers…the Harriet Miers contempt case. But what Congress has to have when it looks in its toolbox is not any of these tools but some backbone. Congress is a co-equal branch of government and it needs to stand up for its rights in this.

Coming on the heels of Joe Galloway's How Dare They Rip the Fourth Amendment? I'm betting that Rove thought this a cheeky reply. I've arrived kicking and screaming at the viewpoint that whatever the Rethugs have on the members of Congress (in order to make them vote against the known and passionately held opinions of their constituents), it must be pretty persuasive or at least damned inconvenient to their future plans if publicized. And, of course, I don't think they all are guilty of having no backbone - witness Dennis Kucinich's 4th of July present to our country's continuing attempt to maintain a democracy ("Thank you, Benjamin Franklin!"). I love that guy (and Russ Feingold too!).

It's nice to be back.

Suzan

(formerly of Welcome to Pottersville)

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