Will the economic crisis trump the Constitution?
President Obama’s recent comments about possible investigations into the abuses of the previous administration are indeed troubling. While he does use language like “no one is above the law”, he always follows it up with concerns about the current economy, wars in the Middle East, terrorism, etc. that require us to look towards the future rather than the past.
It is certainly true we are all concerned about the present, but President Obama is overlooking one of the main reasons why his message of change and hope was embraced by the American public – that he would restore our faith that the Constitution is still the prevailing foundation of our representative Democracy and no one, even the President of the United States, will be permitted to compromise it. Clearly there is much to look back on: torture and detainment of suspected terrorists, warrant-less wiretapping of innocent Americans, ginned-up intelligence to justify invading Iraq, hiring and firing U.S. attorneys based on a political agenda, outing a CIA operative and then pardoning Scooter Libby, allowing staffers to hide behind Executive Privilege and refuse to answer Congressional subpoenas, to name just a few.
President Bush will leave a legacy of unprecedented failures of government, but none more significant than his blatant disregard for the Constitution. President Obama inherits all of these failures, but even if he should be successful in turning things around, his legacy will be forever tarnished if he turns his back on the Constitutional abuses of his predecessor.
