Democracy's last stand

A few random thoughts on today's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, which I thought was supposed to reasonably address Russ Feingold's long overdue censure proposal (but which Lindsey Graham apparently believed was an opportunity to dispute the facts of Watergate with former Nixon White House Counsel, John Dean):

1) Arlen Specter is a true snake in the grass. Not only did he specifically schedule this vital hearing for a day and time that most of our elected officials had already vacated Washington, but he opened the session with a typically snide and dismissive remark about Senator Feingold's resolution in general. Given the opportunity to at least hear the evidence before rendering a verdict (and to be, as Cenk Uygur termed him yesterday, "the single bullet left in democracy's arsenal"), Specter opted instead to be but another compliant cog in the Borg Collective formerly known as the GOP.

2) Orrin Hatch showed once again that he deserves to be keel-hauled. The veteran voice of Republican unaccountability stated, "Wartime is not a time to weaken the commander-in-chief." Since this "war" on terrorism has no foreseeable end in sight, I suppose that no chief executive will be subject to the rule of law again in my remaining lifetime. Thanks, Orrin, for letting us know the score.

3) Hardball reported earlier this afternoon that only two Democrats were even in attendance at today's session, and that the gallery was only half-filled with spectators. Some of that is undoubtedly due to Chairman Specter's scheduling shenanigans. But two Democrats?!?! As I said this morning, the paucity of Liberal support for, and interest in, Feingold's measure is pathetic, disheartening, inexcusable.

4) What can be said about John Dean that would do his testimony justice? Strange how a convicted member of the Nixon Administration would prove to be one of the most honest, intelligent, truly patriotic individuals in Washington. "To me, this is not really and should not be a partisan question," Dean told the panel. "I think it's a question of institutional pride of this body, of the Congress of the United States." How tragic that Dean believes Congress to be a body that still has some sense of institutional pride.

5) After watching the entire hearing on C-SPAN, I couldn't help but wonder: Is this how government operates? I was appalled at the fact that by the conclusion of the session, only Chairman Specter and Senator Feingold remained in the room. All other members of the Judiciary Committee - at least those that had bothered to show up in the first place - had already departed, missing key questions and testimony from the assembled panel. Not that the issue under discussion was important or anything - it merely concerned the intentional violation of existing legal statute by the President, Attorney General, et al, and the Constitutional responsibility of Congress to act as a check on reckless abuse of Executive authority.

6) Finally, the Wisconsin Senator himself. Respectful. Prepared. Determined. Eloquent. Not to mention absolutely correct in his assessment of the situation at hand. "If we in the Congress don't stand up for ourselves and the American people, we become complicit in the lawbreaking," Feingold said. To me, that pretty much covers it all.

This is it, kids. Democracy's last stand. The Piscean optimist in me would love to believe that this criminal monarchy once known as the Executive branch will at long last face some consequence for its 5-year attitude of reckless entitlement. Unfortunately, the realist that lurks in my brain sees little possibility of that coming to pass, if the tenor of today's hearing is any indication.

The President is above the law. Let's see if Orrin, Lindsey, and Arlen are as cavalier about that position when a Democrat once again sits in the Oval Office.