Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The people have a right to know what Bush is doing

July 28, 2007
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The people have a right to know what Bush is doing

The attempts of the Congress to obtain information from the White House are worthy of respect and, if subpoenas or stronger measures are necessary to achieve testimony or documents, they should be used and enforced.

This matter is thus about a whisker away from becoming a constitutional crisis. Apart from the fact that White House officials work for the American government the same as any other civil servant does and are thus accountable to America's elected officials and the American people, this kind of "We are above the law" lack of accountability on the part of Mr. Bush and his administration has now gone far enough.

Even the "executive privilege" argument that the president has a right to the confidential counsel of his advisers doesn't wash in this matter: some of those being protected from Congressional questioning are relatively low-ranking and, at least in the case of the district attorney firings issue, Mr. Bush's subordinates have claimed all along that he himself was not involved in the firings.