I’ve had my political thinking cap in overdrive of late for a few reasons. There’s the Crichton book I just finished that had political / judicial implications… The Woodward book I just started that is pure politics… And the most prominent being recent war of words between the president and congress over the present / future course of Iraq.
Let me say this first, I am not here to offer any solutions to the problem. While I think I’m pretty well read up on the issue, I know I’m not an authority on the matter. If that’s the case, then why am I writing? This short article from CNN summarizing an interview of Bush on 60 Minutes, which starts:
Congress cannot reverse last week’s decision to send 21,000 more troops to Iraq, President Bush said in an interview intended to rally popular support for his plan.
“Frankly, that’s not their responsibility,” Bush said in an interview on the CBS News program “60 Minutes,” which aired Sunday.
This statement completely erodes one major foundation of our government – the separation of powers between the three branches of government. I could go on and on about the assertion in the interview that this administration has been “straight” with Americans, but I’ll instead get back to the main issue at hand for me…
I’m an idealist and only hope for the best for anyone and everyone. It’s no secret that I’m no fan of the current presidential administration. Their constant bending of law to bring more power to the executive branch (one man) is very, very scary to me. The concept of separation of powers is not only sound, but crucial to maintaining a government of the people, for the people, and by the people.
Congress is generally a better representation of the population than the president. If congress seeks to hold the president at bay for whatever reason in whatever arena, then they can because of the power that the separation of powers gives them. While the president has the Commander in Chief powers over the military, congress can approve or deny the president the ability to do many things in the name of the United States of America. Asserting that congress is powerless not only shows an indifference to the separation of powers, but to the public who elected congress under the assumption that they also have powers in the same general areas as the president.
Again, I’m not sure what to do about Iraq. I think it’s a mess, and GW has said that he takes responsibility for getting us where we are right now. He’s tried to fix it before, and he’s failed many times for many years at an incomprehensible cost to our economy and many families. If congress sees fit to make their presence felt in the situation, then it’s their right as another branch of government elected by the population at large to do so.
I know I’m not the first to apply Lord Acton’s statement towards GW, but all of this gave me the inspiration to create my own graphic / illustration containing the sentiment (it’s the first draft of this illustration). His constant assertion of power over all other branches of government is proof enough that Lord Acton was more right than he ever knew – even in a democratically elected republic.