I guess, just bein’ a dumb ol’ flyover country resident, I don’t know how them sophisticated, Ivy League-educated folks who rule us from Washington D.C. operate.
AP CEO Calls Government Seizure of Phone Records Unconstitutional – Chill Already Felt
But, I don’t quite understand why there have been reporters who have gone to jail for refusing to reveal the sources for a story they may have written but it’s OK for the government to get the same kind of information by simply tapping the phones of those same reporters and, it’s all thought to be legal.
It’s legal at least as far as some lower level bureaucrat in the Justice Department says it is when the head of that department, Eric Holder, “recuses” himself from any knowledge of or responsibility for. How the hell is it that the boss can recuse himself from responsibility?
I just wonder if the good folks at the QC Times editorial board are as upset about this as they were when Bush Attorney General, Alberto Gonzalez fired some US attorneys for not doing their jobs. When Gonzalez was forced to resign, some of us recall the gleeful editorial Mr. Ridolfi produced, “Heckuva job, Alberto”.
A major difference between then and now is that apart from the QC Times vituperation Gonzalez’s actions were almost universally conceded to be with precedence and Constitutional. The actions of Eric Holder’s minions may have been neither. By being derelict in his duties, we say, “Heckuva Job, Eric! …and Mark Ridolfi, oh well!”
moving on . . . WaPo reports:
Last June, President Obama invoked executive privilege to withhold documents related to the botched “Fast and Furious” gun operation, and the House of Representatives acted by citing Holder for criminal contempt of Congress. The Justice Department quickly responded by saying Holder would not be prosecuted, “citing similar decisions by Justice Departments in Democratic and Republican administrations”.
So…apparently the way this works is, an administration official may defy Congress, may withhold information, ignore subpoenas,even lie, etc; be found by Congress to be in contempt of that body; and the administration can simply refuse to act on the contempt citation, and nothing can be done even by shaming, if the press is, defacto, part of the administration.
Have I got that right? Executive editor’s answer — yep.
And one final thought . . . until my next thought . . . regarding this Washington Times report regarding the “Gang of Eight ” comprehensive immigration reform bill moving through the Senate:
In one vote, Sen. Jeff Sessions, Alabama Republican, tried to prevent anyone but citizens and green-card holders from being able to claim the Earned Income Tax Credit, which uses the tax code to transfer money to the poor.
But Sen. Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, said that would deny the tax credit not only to legalized immigrants but also refugees, asylum-seekers and other legal workers.
And Sen. Mazie K. Hirono, Hawaii Democrat, said denying the tax credit to legalized immigrants would hurt their children, many of whom are U.S. citizens.
There’s two big reasons for the push for the “Gang of Eight” kind of immigration reform: 1) Democrats will get the votes of the overwhelming majority of these “new” legals, and, 2) business will continue to get cheap labor without having to worry about legal interference.
The very definition of cheap labor is low wages. Low wages qualify for Earned Income Tax Credits. Duh! DLH
