NYT Op/Ed: To Pelosi - Hold Rove In Contempt ("Vital National Interest Getting to Bottom of This")

[Hissyspit]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/opinion/17wed2.html

EDITORIAL
Holding Mr. Rove in Contempt

Published: September 16, 2008
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is deciding what matters should get priority in the short time left before Congress adjourns this month. Her list must include a vote to hold Karl Rove in contempt for his lawless decision to defy a Congressional subpoena to testify about the United States attorneys scandal. There is a vital national interest in getting to the bottom of this matter — and in not allowing Congress’s authority to be undermined.

It has been nearly two years since Congress first began asking questions about the firing of nine United States attorneys, who appear to have been removed for partisan political reasons. Mr. Rove may have been directly involved in these possibly illegal firings, but he has not told Congress what he knows. In defiance of a legally binding subpoena, he refused this summer to appear before the House Judiciary Committee.

Congress’s investigation of the United States attorneys matter is of the utmost importance. It now seems clear that the Justice Department under Attorney General Alberto Gonzales operated as a partisan political actor, using its prosecutorial authority to help the party in power win elections. That was a grave abuse, which undermined American democracy.

There are real victims in this scandal. Don Siegelman, the former governor of Alabama, was sentenced to seven years in prison as a result of a prosecution that appears to have been politically motivated. Mr. Siegelman is free pending an appeal, but he has already served part of the sentence and could end up returning to prison.

- snip -

The House needs to start pushing just as hard on Mr. Rove. The important step is for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to schedule a vote on holding him in contempt in the next two weeks. The House is eager to adjourn — the members want to get back to their districts so they can campaign for re-election. But it would be a mistake to leave without taking this vote.

There are many vital principles at stake, but none is more important than the power of Congress itself. In this era of expanding presidential authority, Congress is a critical check on executive branch abuses. It cannot perform this function if it allows members of the executive branch to flout its subpoenas and its oversight.

MORE

[Blaze Diem]

1. Pelosi would be wise to do so, & also send a message to Palin

that subpoenas WILL be henceforth honored at he Federal level.
No more hiding out.
Refusal will equal jail time.
End of story.
Pelosi got any balls YET to do so?

IF not, THIS needs to be brought up loudly into the Pelosi's own state/district campaign before this yrs. election.

[dmr]

9. Totally agree. One of the many problems of not holding people accountable

is that it tells the next criminal that we tolerate crimes against this nation.

It also makes it more difficult to reign in abusers.

Even if Palin does not become VP, she may one day decide to run for Senator. Oh, geez, the abuse potential that opportunist could inflict upon us all makes me shudder.

[orleans]

2. pelosi has been such a royal disappointment--i don't bank on her for shit. n/t

[Jane Austin]

3. Who is the author?

Thanks.

[Hissyspit]

4. New York Times editorial board.

Sorry, forgot the link.

[Hissyspit]

5. .

[magellan]

6. Off to Greatest with you

...for what it's worth.

[quiet.american]

7. So glad to see this in the NYT. Have been asking for weeks, why is the pig man still free? nt

[bleever]

8. A pillar of the Fourth Estate takes a stand.

"Follow the rules."

Or be followed.

[vanderBeth]

10. Pelosi needs to grow a pair

[Golden Raisin]

11. That'll happen right after Pelosi

puts impeachment back on the table.

[ima_sinnic]

12. k & r

[Festivito]

13. Either that or aim nukes at Switzerland. /nt

[The Stranger]

14. The Nancy Pelosi Traitor/Disaster is too busy losing the most important election in history.

And holding down the nation so it can be raped repeatedly by the criminal junta.

[Kablooie]

15. Problem is, she's part of the scandal. She'll never let it it the big time.

[Ghost in the Machine]

16. Yeah, good luck with getting Nancy Pelousy to do anything...

she's as useless as tits on a nun...