One day after a federal court judge ordered the Justice Department to undertake a sincere and thorough search for millions of White house E-mails that the Bush Administration has been contending “may” have been missing for the past 4 years, the Justice Department represented today in a sworn statement to the court that the E-mails have miraculously been “found.”
In an historic example of deliberate obstruction of justice at the highest levels of government not seen since the Nixon era, the Administration of George W. Bush has tacitly admitted to stonewalling Congress and the courts who were seeking to determine the Office of the President and Vice President involvement in and authorization of illegal and unconstitutional activities. Those activities ranged from exerting improper political influence on screening and appointment of government employees in the Justice department and other Agencies to sanctioning interrogation and spying activities that contravene the Constitution and the Geneva Conventions.
The logical and apparent reasons for stonewalling Congress and the judicial system were to avoid probable impeachment. The tragedy is that when the highest law enforcement official in the most powerful country on the planet corrupts the system in order to cover up his own criminal activity, the foundation of the system of representative democracy fails. The protection of the civil rights of each individual citizen lies in the principle that no man is above the law. Whether based upon pure arrogance or upon some contrived theory of an “Imperial Presidency,” the notion that the President can do whatever he chooses and is immune from constraints established in the laws of the nation is pure hubris.
Moreover, the audacity shown by the Bush Administration in withholding evidence that it was legally bound to disclose, for no reason other than to obstruct justice, is amazing. Even more stunning is that Bush and Cheney are likely to get away with the stonewalling and obstruction without even the least formal sanction. The press has proven a toothless watchdog at best, and a willing accomplice at worst. This, more than anything, shows the degree to which the system of government supposedly “by and for the people” and supposedly protected by "checks and balances" has been corrupted and degraded.
Some would argue that pursuit of Bush Administration officials for misconduct amounts to political retribution, payback by the victors for abuse by the GOP when it was in power. That is how GOP stalwarts and Bush apologists would like to see the scenario play out. Such dismissal would be cynical, untrue and unfortunate. It is natural and appropriate when serious damage has been done or a system has seriously malfunctioned as a result of a series of events to conduct a thorough inquiry to determine the cause of the damage and the nature of the malfunction. This is practical and remedial; it is common sense and not vengeance. Only by carefully examining what happened can we hope to repair the damage and to prevent similar harm in the future.
But all in all, the cynical and arrogant behavior of the Bush Administration is simply in keeping with its form for the past eight years. Vice President Cheney in his parting interviews bluntly challenged the American people, the press and the media with comments to the effect "what are you going to do about it? He admitted to authorization of activities that the rest of civilized society considers torture and was unrepentant. In establishing a bulwark between his elitist cronies and the rest of the American people, in erecting a protective barrier to prevent being held accountable for criminal and inhumane actions that have disgraced a nation, the obstruction of justice by withholding e-mails was just “another brick in the wall.”
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