The Lessons of the Past

One characteristics of the Dick Cheney philosophy is his adamant belief that Richard Nixon was justified in his efforts to use any means to increase his own Presidential power, to use questionable tactics to manipulate the political and electoral process, and to use any means possible to cover up those actions. Most of the American people of a certain age are well aware of how that philosophy played out for Nixon.

Recent events involving the investigation of the Justice Department firing of US Attorneys has shed some light on the machinations of the White House, and particularly on those of White House political “guru” Karl Rove. We did know, despite the GOP controlled Congress that turned a blind eye to almost every action by the White House, that the President and Vice President were intent upon developing an “Imperial Presidency” under a “unitary executive” theory concocted by conservative think tanks. The abrogation of civil rights under the guise of a “war on terror,” the circumvention of the law to use domestic spying programs to amass huge amounts of confidential data on innocent Americans without their knowledge, the profligate use of signing statements to nullify laws passed by Congress without using the Constitutionally prescribed veto and the Valerie Plame matter are all vivid examples of this arrogation of power. What we were not aware of, however, was the extent to which a “shadow government” was operating in secret in the White House and in violation of the Presidential Records Act. That Act requires that all records involving White House business be retained.

We now know that Karl Rove and many other White House employees were conducting business and communicating regarding matters within the President’s purview, including those he acted upon and those coming to the White House that may have been kept from him by subordinates. These Republican National Committee e-mail accounts have been highlighted because they contain information about the communication and interaction between the White House and the Justice Department regarding the process and decision to fire the US Attorneys. All such communications should have been conducted through regular channels that are routinely archived in accordance with the Presidential Records Act. The decision to send communications regarding official business through the alternate e-mail system renders such communications inherently suspect, because that decision engendered the intent to circumvent the archival process. If it is legitimate and legal, why try to hide it in a manner that you know is illegal?

And now the process of tracking those e-mails has led to the assertion that the e-mails may be “missing” from the RNC computers. This is eerily reminiscent of the drama that played out when Rosemary Woods, Secretary to Nixon, disclosed that certain critical tapes of Oval Office discussions were missing. This included the 18 minute “gap” that was significant evidence in the impeachment of Nixon. The interplay between the Nixon White House and the illegal dirty tricks of the Committee for the Re-Election of the President [“CREEP”] left an historic scar on the psyche of the nation. Prior to that time, most Americans believed that their President might be misguided or inept in handling White House matters, and they understood that politics is a rough business, but they did not expect that the President would stoop to illegal conduct and attempted cover-ups. No American of any political persuasion likes to think of their President as a liar and a criminal who would run a shadow government in order to circumvent the Constitution.

Apparently, Bush and Cheney have failed to learn the lessons of the past. Through their beloved “Turd Blossom” [Bush’s nickname for Karl Rove], they have managed to rub salt in the egregious wound in America’s psyche by repeating the mistakes of the Nixon Administration. We began to see the deceitful and conniving behavior in the evidence presented in the Scooter Libby case. But with each new revelation the picture seems to worsen and confirm White House adherence to a philosophy of arrogance, petty politics and disregard for the law. Those who fail to learn the lessons of history, it is said, are oft doomed to repeat it.