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4.28.04 Separation of Powers: the Right to Operate in
Secret
The U.S. Constitution was not my favorite subject in grade school,
but I do recall that the reason we have three branches of government has
something to do with checks and balances. That's
accountability right?
The King of Arrogance, Dick Cheney, has leapfrogged over the lower
courts to appeal to the Supremes. The
New York
Times tells it this way:
In early 2001, Mr. Cheney convened an energy task force whose
membership was secret. Environmental groups charge that he let
energy companies and other big campaign donors participate in
drafting energy policy and let them lobby for huge subsidies for
themselves. Judicial Watch and the Sierra Club sued, saying that
because people who are not federal employees were de facto members
of the task force, the Federal Advisory Committee Act requires that
its records be made public. Mr. Cheney says the act does not apply
because the task force's members were all federal employees.
To decide who is right, the trial court had to know something
about who participated. It ordered limited disclosure, but Mr.
Cheney argued that the order violated his executive privilege. The
trial court said it was willing to take reasonable steps to guard
the information, such as by reviewing it in private. But Mr. Cheney
rejected these offers and is instead seeking a blanket order that he
does not need to release the names.
In Slate, Dahlia Lithwick reviews the testimony from yesterday's
court appearance and Dick Cheney's "absolute
right to know and not tell." What it adds up to is an argument that
"separation of powers" means the Executive Branch can do anything it
wants to, in secret, and not be held accountable for it.
This seems to go along with the contention that the administration
can also waive the constitutional rights of American citizens who they
deem to be a "threat to national security." Again from the
NYTimes:
The Supreme Court hears arguments this week in two cases
involving Americans who are being held indefinitely, without the
right to see a lawyer, simply because they have been designated
"enemy combatants." The Bush administration, ignoring basic
constitutional principles, argues that because the detentions are
military decisions made in wartime the courts have no authority to
second-guess them.
Their motto: Trust Us!
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mad
in pursuit: greed & arrogance