Constitutional Government [View all]

[H2O Man]

"The informing function of Congress should be preferred to even its legislative function."
-- Woodrow Wilson; Constitutional Government in the United States; New York: Columbia University press; 1908; page 303.


My son shook his head as we watched a news report about the republican Senators' attempt to knee-cap an investigation into January 6th. "Dirty bastards," he said. "Fear not," I replied, "for we still have what I think is a better option." I prefer a Senate Select Committee to a commission for a variety of reasons. Hence, I was pleased less than an hour later, when Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) told a reporter that there would likely be a Select Committee investigation.

Over the many decades of my life, I have witnessed our country move further away from Constitutional Government. This concerns me, as I've seen even intelligent and generally informed people unaware of the Congress's role in educating the public. Indeed, even on this forum, circa 2009, a person I respect but am not particularly friends with, told me that I was full of shit, without a clue of what I was talking about. While this may be an accurate diagnosis of my usual nonsense, in this case I am correct.

Woodrow Wilson was the first political scientist to become president. Back in 2009, I assumed that the vast majority of people had a copy of "Constitutional Government" in the political science section of their personal library, if not the more obvious presidential section. I was wrong about that, and so I shall link a copy of it here:
https://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/constitutional-government-in-the-united-states/

Why, someone might be asking at this very moment, is this ancient manuscript of importance? To begin with, it is quoted in two important US Supreme Court decisions (including the above quote): United States v. Rumely, 345 US 41, 43 (1953), and Watkins v. United States, 354 US 178, 200 (1957). And it would serve as the driving force when an old country lawyer, Senator Sam Ervin, headed the Senate Select Committee's investigation of Watergate.

One advantage os congressional investigations is that they are often televised. Those of my generation remember listening to witnesses such as John Dean and Alexander Butterfield testify about Watergate. It is important to remember that Nixon still had high approval from republicans in DC and nation-wide. Some of the Iran-Contra hearings were also televised, although the combination of its complicated stratification, scandal fatigue, and Ollie North's uniform blurred Reagan and VP Bush's criminal involvement.

Such hearings are never a perfect answer. Some House republicans were nearly as toxic as their counterparts today when it came to committee debate on articles of impeachment. I agree that the republican party is worse today, posing a much greater threat to our Constitutional Government, than in the past. Thus, it is essential to more fully appreciate that as we venture further from the Constitution and the rule of law, it is the result of steps taken since the Nixon era.

There have been commissions that have investigated import issues in my life-time. I'd like to discuss two of them, without any focus what so ever on if I or anyone else agrees fully, partially, or not at all with their conclusions. These include the Warren Commission and the 9/11 Commission. Both interviewed numerous witnesses, yet neither was televised. Their results were issued in reports that were significantly longer, more detailed, and much less likely to be read by average people. As a result, it is accurate to say that neither had the influence of the Ervin Committee. If this was intentional or not is a very different matter.

That fox Nixon's pathology would not be expressed publicly until the powerfully tense interviews with David Frost. VP Bush the Elder was allowed to skate by saying he was unaware of what was going on with Iran-Contra. George W. Bush and VP Cheney would testify together in secret. "So ?," you may reasonably ask. So there is a pattern here, one that is significant as we consider why republicans are so opposed to a January 6 Commission. Identifying it will surely bring back memories, for DU Elders, of the frequent "Can you find the face in this tree?" puzzle in our Weekly Readers. (Younger folks may be more familiar with finding dead, rotting trees in republican faces.)

Part of this is simply a result of cowardice and fear. A few DC republicans have said, off the record, that they fear for their family's and their safety, due to the rabid threats of the Trump cult. They are not only hoping that AOC, Nancy, and VP Harris are the cult's primary targets -- they are okay with sacrificing Mike Pence. Think about that.

Still more are afraid that not only Trump & fiends will be exposed for promoting the violence, but that their own role will be exposed on live television, for all to see. Mitch and Kevin are fully aware of what this would do to their party's chances in upcoming elections. They need to buckle their seat belts, as the old saying goes, because there is a bumpy road ahead. Do not be surprised if, when the idea of a Senate Select Committee investigation's implications become clear to them, they suddenly demand a commission.

Peace,
H2O Man