What "tools" will the future president willingly give back?

No one questions that President Bush has vastly expanded the Executive Branch’s powers by using signing statements (over 800), issuing executive orders to circumvent Congressional action, and even ignoring numerous laws.

What will the next president do with these increased powers?

John Nichols, Washington correspondent for The Nation Magazine and author of The Genius of Impeachment - The Founders' Cure for Royalty, believes that the toolbox of powers assumed by President Bush and Vice President Cheney will be passed on to the future president; regardless of who wins in ’08, he/she is not likely to hand any tools back.

That’s why John Nichols supports impeachment. In his July 13th interview with Bill Moyers, Nichols said, “On January 20th, 2009, if George Bush and Dick Cheney are not appropriately held to account this administration will hand off a toolbox with more powers than any president has ever had, more powers than the founders could have imagined. And that box may be handed to Hillary Clinton or it may be handed to Mitt Romney or Barack Obama or someone else. But whoever gets it, one of the things we know about power is that people don't give away the tools. They don't give them up. The only way we take tools out of that box is if we sanction George Bush and Dick Cheney now and say the next president cannot govern as these men have."

In December 22nd, Charlie Savage of the Boston Globe published a study of the responses of 9 of the 12 top presidential candidates' responses to 12 questions about their positions on executive powers. Savage’s report is the most comprehensive effort to date to get the candidates to declare in specific terms what checks and balances they would respect, and whether they would reverse the Bush administration's legacy of expanded presidential powers.

Along with Savage’s article, you can read the candidates’ answers (Giuliani, Huckabee, and Thompson failed to respond) and also read these candidates’ answers by question.

Even though Rudy Giuliani didn’t respond to Savage’s questions, it is clear that he would expand presidential powers if elected president, as reported in "Rudy Awakening" in the November, 2007 issue of the Washington Monthly.

A day after Savage’s report was published, Glenn Greenwald zeroed in on Mitt Romney's responses to the 12 questions, describing his pursuit of power literally tyrannical.

Balkinization blogger Marty Lederman posted a brief summary of all the responsive candidates’ positions on December 22nd: Some highlights:

”On the Democratic side, Senators Clinton and Obama both disclaim any presidential authority to disregard statutes and treaties such as the torture act, FISA, statutes imposing troop limits, and the Geneva Conventions. Senators Biden and Dodd, and Governor Richardson, agree, except that Governor Richardson adds that the President can disregard statutory limits "in some limited circumstances, such as where it is necessary to protect the troops on the ground or to repel an attack not contemplated by the congressional directive." Senator Edwards strongly believes that President Bush should not have disregarded (or threatened to disregard) such laws; but he does not quite clearly answer the questions about constitutional power.

“As for the Republicans:”Senator McCain denies that the President has the constitutional power to violate the torture act, or FISA, or treaties, but in response to the question about a statute limiting troop deployment, he states that 'it's beyond Congress's authority to micromanage wars.' (On the other hand, he states categorically (and mistakenly) that 'I don't think the president has the right to disobey any law,' so his views on this question remain a bit uncertain.) McCain also denies that the President has the constitutional power to unilaterally bomb Iran, absent an imminent threat. Surprisingly (and in my view unfortunately), McCain states that he would not issue any signing statements.

"Ron Paul, true to his convictions, is libertarian across the board, which in this case means skeptical of executive power.

”Romney? Let's put it this way: If you've liked Dick Cheney and David Addington, you're gonna love Mitt Romney.”

I wonder if John Nichols is right, that no president willingly gives up increased powers. Since impeachment doesn’t have the active support of a majority of citizens, I guess we’ll find out when a new president is elected.

(toolbox: Electronic Toolbox)

Please sign the Wexler petition urging Cheney impeachment hearings plus send to 10 others

Please drop everything, go to Wexler Wants Hearings and sign the petition calling for impeachment hearings of Cheney. When you sign up, note the number who have also signed. There were 63, 541 signers at 5:55 pm this evening.

Representative Robert Wexler, Democrat, 19th Congressional District, Florida, is a member of the House Judiciary Committee (HJC). He, along with HJC members Rep. LuisGutierrez (D-IL) and Rep. Tammy Baldwin, (D-WI) are fed up with the lawlessness of Vice President Richard Cheney.

Last Friday, Democrats.com sent out "Reps. Wexler, Gutierrez, and Baldwin Call for Cheney Impeachment Hearings", and the result has been the stunning number of signatures gathered over a busy pre-holiday weekend.

Rep. Kucinich’s impeach Cheney bill was submitted on April 24, 2007. It has languished since then in the HJC. It was given new life on November 6th when Kucinich submitted a privileged resolution to impeach Cheney, H. Res. 799, on the House floor. Mixed motives were behind the bipartisan majority of 218 House members who voted to sent it back to the HJC.

Many Democrats who voted to move the resolution to the HJC hoped it would continue to gather dust. Until now, it appeared that H. Res. 799 would indeed be forgotten by the HJC, which is made up of 23 Democrats and 15 Republicans.

Impeachment has been by highest political priority since November 2, 2006, when I heard John Nichols speak about impeachment. John is the Washington correspondent for The Nation magazine and author of The Genius of Impeachment - The Founders' Cure for Royalism.

I hope you’ll join me in calling for hearings on impeaching Cheney. Don’t worry about the outcome, just add your voice to the growing number who don’t want to see Vice President Cheney get away for so many lawless acts. Then spread the word to 10 friends.

(photo of Cheney from Wexler Wants Hearings)

The Democratic Activist highlights John Nichols's talk at the San Francisco Green Festival

Fellow blogger and friend, Chris Borland, blogging at The Democratic Activist, has posted John Nichols rocks the house at the SF Green Festival.

We’re collaborating. Chris borrowed my camcorder and filmed the event, including the exclusive interview of Nichols before he gave his talk to the public. I uploaded a short clip of the interview to YouTube for Chris’s* post.

It’s a great relief to have a blogging buddy. Sometimes I’m blogged out, especially days like today when I am helping take care of my 9 month-old twin grandchildren.

*The first rule in Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style, 4th edition, is “Form the possessive singular of nouns by adding ‘s. Follow this rule whatever the final consonant.” This book, first published in 1935, is a classic, and I use it as my writing guide.

(photo of John from the SF Green Festival)

A new blog, The Democratic Activist, has a terrific action plan for impeaching Cheney + John Nichols speaking on impeachment in SF this Sunday

I'm closing in on 300 posts, which I expect to hit next week. I started last January after I organized and moderated an impeachment forum in my town, Healdsburg. It was well attended, and there’s been a lot of local impeachment actions, including Janie Sheppard’s* effort to get the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors to pass a resolution in support of impeaching Cheney.

Despite the efforts of many people to hold our leaders accountable, until this past week I wasn’t optimistic. Then on Tuesday, Representative Dennis Kucinich’s resolution to impeach Cheney, H. Res. 799, was referred to the House Judiciary Committee.

Now it’s up to us, folks. And just in time**, Chris Borland created the best plan of action for impeaching Cheney that I’ve seen so far.

Here’s Chris’s introduction to his new blog:

People,

For the past two days, it's been nearly impossible to get through on the phone to the office House Judiciary (HJC) Committee Chairman John Conyers. Nothing but busy signals. He and other HJC committee members have been deluged with calls from citizens demanding their support of the Cheney impeachment resolution now before the committee.

This is it. We actually have a real chance to impeach Dick Cheney!It's likely now, or never. It's time to move. It will take work. But we can do it.

How can you make it happen? All it takes is about half an hour. Get the details here.

My recommendation: Put The Democratic Activist icon on our desktop and check it frequently.

*Janie is my friend, political ally, and frequent guest blogger. My posts by or about her are all linked here. Thanks to Janie for keeping the impeachment issue alive here in northern California.

**I’m pretty worn out. I want to pace myself to last through the 2008 election.

Update: John Nichols, the person who convinced me last November to support impeachment, is appearing in San Francisco this Sunday:

The Nation's John Nichols on Impeachment

San Francisco Green Fest

Noon Sunday, Nov. 11

Main Stage Giftcenter Pavillion Theater

888 Brannan Street

San Francisco, CA 94103

Update: Thanks to Janie Sheppard, here is the contact information for the 9 Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee who voted to table H. Res. 799 (meaning they are not willing to vote on it.) In addition to John Conyers,* Chair of the House Judiciary Committe, Chris Borland recommends we contact:

1. Howard Berman, CA-28 2

221 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20515

Phone: (202) 225-4695

Fax: (202) 225-3196

14546 Hamlin Street, Suite 202

Van Nuys, CA 91411

Phone: (818) 994-7200

Fax: (818) 994-10502

2. Frederick Boucher, VA-92187

Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20515

202-225-3861

202-225-0442(fax)

1 Cloverleaf Square, Suite C-1

Big Stone Gap, Virginia 24219

276-523-54503

3. Artur Davis, AL-7

208 Cannon H.O.B.

Washington, D.C. 20515

(202) 225-2665 (phone)

(202) 226-9567 (fax)

20th Street North Suite #1130

Birmingham, AL 35203

(205) 254-1960 (phone)

(205) 254-1974 (fax)

4. William Delahunt, MA-10

2454 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

202-225-3111

Fax: 202-225-5658

146 Main Street

Hyannis, MA 02601

508-771-0666

Toll-Free: 800-870-2626

Fax: 508-790-19595

5. Zoe Lofgren, CA 16

102 Cannon House Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20515

Phone: (202) 225-3072

Fax: (202) 225-3336

635 N. First Street, Suite B San Jose, CA 95112

Phone: (408) 271-8700

Fax: (408) 271-8713

6. Jerrold Nadler, NY-8

2334 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

Tel. 202-225-5635

445 Neptune Ave.

Brooklyn, NY 11224

Tel. 718-373-31987

7. Linda Sanchez, CA-39

1222 Longworth Building

Washington, DC 20515

202-225-6676

17906 Crusader Ave. Suite 100

Cerritos, CA 90703

562-860-50508

8. Debbie Wasserman Schultz - Florida, 20th

118 Cannon H.O.B

Washington, DC 20515

Phone: 202-225-7931

Fax: 202-226-2052

10100 Pines Blvd.

Pembroke Pines, FL 33026

Phone: 954-437-3936

Fax: 954-437-47769

9. Adam B. Schiff - CA, 29th

326 Cannon House Office Building

Washington D.C. 20515

Phone: (202) 225-4176

Facsimile: (202) 225-5828

87 N. Raymond Ave. #800

Pasadena, California 91103

Phone: (626) 304-2727

Facsimile: (626) 304-0572

*Rep. John Conyers:

2426 Rayburn Building

Washington, DC 20515

phone: 202.225.5126,

fax: 202.225.0072

Michigan phone numbers:

734.675.4084

313.961.5670

(photo: CultureKitchen.com)

The "toolbox theory" of impeachment

On November 2, 2006, I heard the MOST COMPELLING reason to pursue impeachment. It was presented by John Nichols, (photo) Washington correspondent for The Nation magazine, in conjunction with promoting his book, The Genius of Impeachment - The Founders' Cure for Royalism. I describe the compelling reason as the “toolbox theory of impeachment.”

Thanks to Nichols, I moved from a neutral position regarding impeachment into full gear, organizing and moderating an impeachment forum in my hometown, Healdsburg, on January 10, 2007. This event prompted my first post on January 13.

Since then, I, in conjunction with my friend and politically ally, Janie Sheppard, have posted about impeachment numerous times, in random order, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Frankly speaking, until recently I hadn’t seen enough action by a sufficient number of people to make a difference.

However, I’m finally beginning to see a groundswell of support for impeachment of Bush and Cheney, or Bush, or Cheney individually.

The most persuasive reason I’ve heard for supporting impeachment came from Nichols. Now, you, too, can hear or read it because John Nichols and Bruce Fein were interviewed by Bill Moyers on July 13, Tough Talk on Impeachment (video link and transcript).

Here’s the “toolbox” exchange:

BILL MOYERS: "That struck me about your writings and your book. You say your great-- your great fear is that Bush and Cheney will hand off to their successors a toolbox that they will not avoid using."

JOHN NICHOLS: "Well, let's try a metaphor. Let's say that-- when George Washington chopped down the cherry tree, he used the wood to make a little box. And in that box the president puts his powers. We've taken things out. We've put things in over the years.

"On January 20th, 2009, if George Bush and Dick Cheney are not appropriately held to account this administration will hand off a toolbox with more powers than any president has ever had, more powers than the founders could have imagined. And that box may be handed to Hillary Clinton or it may be handed to Mitt Romney or Barack Obama or someone else. But whoever gets it, one of the things we know about power is that people don't give away the tools. They don't give them up. The only way we take tools out of that box is if we sanction George Bush and Dick Cheney now and say the next president cannot govern as these men have."

I’m sure John Nichols won’t mind if you use his toolbox metaphor.

(photo of John Nichols – Wisconsin Book Festival)

Stamp out postal rate hikes to save small and independent publishers

A few days ago, when I went online to read The Nation, I saw the “stamp” (photo) and responded to the request for action by logging onto Stamp Out the Rate Hikes and added my name to the letter to save small and independent publishers like The Nation.

I agree with Studs Terkel, who in 1994 said, "During these bleak moments when the spirit takes a dip, The Nation acts as a tonic, a bracer, a pick-me-up. And it's non- alcoholic, too." If we experienced “bleak moments” in 1994, they are much bleaker now. We really need The Nation and it needs our help with keeping its mailing costs down.

According to the Stamp Out the Rate Hike website, “Postal regulators have accepted a proposal from media giant Time Warner that would stifle small and independent publishers in America. The plan unfairly burdens smaller publishers with higher postage rates while locking in special privileges for bigger media companies.”

The clincher for me about taking action is that John Nichols*, Washington Correspondent for The Nation, is also on the Board of Directors of FreePress, the organization behind the Stamp Out the Rate Hike.

*John Nichols is The Nation’s Washington correspondent and editorial page editor of the Capital Times in Madison, Wis. He is the author of Against the Beast, Jews for Buchanan and Dick: The Man Who Is President and co-author, with Robert McChesney, of It’s the Media, Stupid, Our Media, Not Theirs, and, most recently, Tragedy & Farce: How the American Media Sell Wars, Spin Elections and Destroy Democracy. My son and I met John on The Nation Cruise in November, 2005. My son and I met John on The Nation cruise in November, 2005.