Censure for the Abuses of Power?

       By: Chuck Payne, cfpaynejr@hotmail.com

       1804 Walton Street

       Dalton, GA 30721

       (706) 271-8212

 

This week Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, and others, have been talking it up and hoping for strong support for a Censure Resolution in the US Senate for the “abuses of power” that President Bush and Vice President Cheney have committed in relation to their actions in administering the war in Iraq. He and other democrats have been out speaking on this “desecration of the public trust” and how history can not afford to let these abuses go without a recorded voice of opposition being noted.

 

They are quick to reference the President’s and Vice President’s low approval ratings, based on polling data and attribute this to the “American People’s lack of trust for this Administration”. What they fail to point out is the Executive Branch, all though is polling very poorly, is still holding better than Congress in this same polling data and just maybe the American People have less trust and a lower regard for the performance of this newly elected Congress than they do for the President and Vice President.

 

But how could this be? How in the world could the American People have such a poor view of the US Congress? Every evening on all of the network news cast there is plenty of time devoted to continually rehash the President’s misgivings and short comings, to the point that it has now become a factual notion that the President and Vice President did, indeed, lead us into this war for no other purpose than OIL and they both “misled the American People with deceitful tactics to achieve their own personal agenda”. How could Americans have such a poor judgment of Congress, besides isn’t Congress just representing the views of the American voters?

 

In a time that we are constantly reminded of the President’s and Vice President’s missteps, one can easily understand their low approval ratings, but how is it that Congress’ performance is rated lower that that of President Bush and Vice President Cheney? Maybe, just maybe, it is because the American People now see Congress as the hot bed of pure political posturing and their seeking to promote themselves for the sake of the game of politics and in order to gain the next political molehill. Congress has been reduce from bringing monumental change forward from the American People, as in the civil rights legislation of the mid 1960s and even the balancing of our nation’s budget in the mid 1990s; from seeking to move mountains for the betterment of American society to seeking one inch of self promoting political real-estate at a time, just to have any light shine in their political direction. Congress was intended to be the “peoples” connection to our government, especially as the US House of Representatives was, at one time, considered to be the House of the People, but today Congress, as an institution, has become more like a political house of ill repute and the American People have come to realize this for themselves.

 

So, why doesn’t the evening news reflect, or even acknowledge, any public distain for today’s Congress, as they have continuously done toward the Executive Branch? While knowing that the democrats in Congress were instrumental in leading us to war, just as much as President Bush, and knowing that their decisions and aggreement then were based on the same intelligence that President Bush was basing his decisions, why is the media allowing these Democrat Leaders a pass, while declaring that President Bush is to be held accountable?  Although many would say that this is based solely on an ideological or a  philosophical premise; that today’s media is in lock step agreement with the need for more government oversight and intervention into everyday problems that we face in life and the same notion that congressional democrats claim to represent, but surely there is more to it than that. Isn’t there?

 

Today, as the Senate weighs the prospects of political posturing and a potential Censure Resolutions for the President, maybe the 74% majority of Americans that see through the these political clouds over Congress, and who, if able to overcome the stench of the stagnant pool of political waste, can somehow gather a collected voice of reason and send a clear and concise message to Congress: “Enough is enough, as there is plenty of blame to go around for the problems we face. Now, SHUT UP and work together to defend and uphold the Constitution of the United States, as you were sworn to do! No more; no less. As stakeholders to the future of this Nation, that is all we are expecting and demanding you to do!”

 

One last question: “How has it come to the point where we should feel the need to speak to our government leaders in the same tone as one would speak to an unruly child?” Maybe a Censure Resolution is in order for politicizing a war effort solely for the purpose of political gain…OR NOT.