Harry Reid Shrugs Off Censure
22 July 2007 2:07 pm by Taylor Marsh
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| VIDEO: Senator Reid on “Face the Nation” VIDEO: Senator Reid on censure (only) |
Senator Russ Feingold is going to offer
two censure motions against President Bush, Vice President Cheney and other Administration officials (more video). Leadership can be a lonely effort and he may stand alone, but Mr. Feingold has my full throated support, though crafting the measure will be incredibly difficult, as will getting enough support. However, it’s not only an important move, but it’s constitutionally critical; not as a partisan matter, but to send a message to any President of the United States who thinks the Executive Branch is more important than the Legislative or the Judicial.
However, Senator Feingold has already met with resistance, though not from Republicans, who will obviously circle the wagons.
Majority Leader Reid doesn’t go on many Sunday morning shows. In fact, he doesn’t
do tv very often. The last big outing was the interview with Charlie Rose, which
I chronicled, laying out Reid’s philosophy about his role as majority leader and telegraphed what we were all about to witness from Reid on Iraq. After his leadership last week, which was brave but left
many confused, today we get yet another Charlie Rose moment, if you will. Reid, appearing on “Face the Nation,” basically shrugged off Feingold’s censure motions. While reciting
Feingold’s bona fides and considerable leadership respectability, Reid chose to first hide behind
Republicans likely not allowing censure to come to a vote, repeating what they did last week on Iraq, instead of directly addressing the merits of censure. However,
you only have to look at Reid’s philosophy on binding legislation on Iraq redeployment to
understand what’s at the heart of Reid’s reticence.
“The record will show that binding language was not our first choice.”
– Majority Leader Harry Reid
The above quote comes from a speech read on the Senate floor before the all-nighter
on Iraq. If binding legislation on Iraq withdrawal gave Reid pause, there’s no reason to believe that censure is Reid’s type of fight either.
But that doesn’t mean Senator Feingold shouldn’t make the stand. Someone has
to stand up in the Senate and do this job, even if Senator Reid is skeptical in the face of a mound of evidence.
This showdown between a Democratic Congress and a Republican president may look partisan, but it should not. In a year and a half, there could be a Democratic president, and such extreme claims of executive power would be just as disturbing if that chief executive made them.
Congress should use all of the tools at its disposal to pursue its investigations. It is not only a matter of getting to the bottom of some possibly serious government misconduct. It is about preserving the checks and balances that are a vital part of American democracy. … ..
Even after offering a litany of items that Bush, Cheney and the administration have done against the rule
of law and the people of this country, Reid said this in answer to whether
he’d “go along with it if (the Republicans) let you vote on it?”
“… .. Bob, frankly, we have so many other things to do. The
president already has the mark of the American people that he’s the worse
president we’ve every had. I don’t think we need a censure resolution in the
Senate to prove that. Well, at this stage, Russ is going to have to make his
case as why we should do that rather than do our appropriations bills… ..
We have a lot of work to do.” – Senator Harry Reid (”Face
the Nation”)
Holding President Bush accountable should be job one. Frankly, I don’t want
any president running amok in the executive like Bush. This may be a message presented by Senator Feingold but it comes from we the people, regardless of party, as we reach out as a country to put a warning in writing
that any President of the United States is not above the law, is accountable
and that the Congress will hold him or her to that standard no matter what.
Frankly, there’s a real problem with the establishment leadership in the Senate from both political parties. Senator McConnell is nothing short of a White House flack, with Senators Lugar, Warner and others offering bluster in the face of a foreign policy crisis that requires action. A respected
man by his colleagues and many people in politics, Mr. Reid has earned his place
in the Democratic Party and he’s a much better leader than any of the Republicans. But like his GOP counterparts, Reid is a man of the past, not the 21st century.
Reid genuflecting to traditionalism and what he perceives to be his job in the
Senate, with the Republicans protecting the president at all costs, has more to do with the institution and politics, respectively, than the U.S. Constitution. Because
nothing could be clearer: Bush and Cheney have run wild with executive branch
overreach endangering our very republic, which has been shown in great detail throughout the U.S. attorney firings. If that’s not worth noting through
a reprimand of censure what is?
We haven’t even begun to cover what has happened through Bush’s ineptitude, blinded arrogance,
as well as his continued prevarication on Iraq.
Censure sends a message that is recorded in history that Congress didn’t sleep
through Mr. Bush’s dangerously reckless presidency. It’s a moderate rebuke to
a president who deserves it. That Mr. Reid still thinks Mr. Feingold has to
make the case for censure, even as we are all buried in evidence, is further
proof that regardless of the respect and power Mr. Reid has accumulated, he
is not a consistently bold enough leader to go up against the lawlessness and bad faith
of Mr. Bush and the Republican power grab. The results are in evidence.
I’m holding out hope that Senator Feingold can convince Harry Reid of the importance
of censure, because holding Bush accountable for his contempt of Congress cries out for action. But Reid’s inference that there’s not enough
time to do it and that the American people have already weighed in, so why should
the Senate, is not very encouraging.
Reid’s words on “Face the Nation” also offer cover to other legislators in Congress, of both parties, but particularly Bush’s allies, not to take action against the most run away presidency since Nixon. As I wrote on Ford’s passing, I can’t forgive Ford” for the pardon of Richard M. Nixon. It’s what gave rise to Rumsfeld and Cheney’s rebellious take down of the three branch balance, and the move to push the presidency and the executive branch far beyond what the Founders intended. That move led us to where we are today and the Senate not seriously considering Senator Feingold’s moderate proposal of censure would lay the groundwork for a further tipping of the balance of power that could further devastate this country. If the Senate doesn’t restore balance, Bush’s executive power grab will resound throughout history, offering a path to other presidents who think they too are more important than the U.S. Constitution, something that strikes at the very heart of our democratic republic.
