‘We have a Congress that jumped on the Executive’s
war-making bandwagon and allowed the Executive to go to war without exercising
its own legislative authority by questioning WMD claims that were bushwa. 

We have a Congress that, as
occurred before with Viet Nam, lacks the brains and guts to exercise its own
power to stop the war. 

We have a Congress that has
itself done nothing effective – zippo – to stop the Executive torture that
violates Congress’ own anti-torture statute, that has done nothing to stop
rendering for the purpose of torture or to force the closure of secret prisons
in awful foreign countries, a Congress that wouldn’t even dream of – and surely
does not want to so much as mention – exercising its power to curb these
illegalities by impeaching and convicting their perpetrators. 

We have a Congress that has done
nothing effective to stop the (impeachable) Executive electronic eavesdropping,
in violation of Congress’ own law, that was revealed over a year ago (all we
ever got on this subject was more hot air from Arlen Specter), and that equally
has done nothing to curb the NSA’s mammoth, recently disclosed electronic
domestic data mining of almost everyone’s telephone (including, I imagine, the
telephones of people in Congress) (and again all we got is hot air from
Specter). 

We have a Congress that does not
prevent the accession to higher benches of judges who, as lawyers, sponsored
ideas for massive inroads on the power of Congress. 

We have a Congress that has done
nothing about the Executive’s 700 plus signing statements saying that it does
not have to follow the laws being signed. And this Congress, which has allowed
so many phenomenal, and phenomenally important, inroads upon its own power, is
the same Congress that is complaining that its prerogatives have been invaded
and its power threatened, because the FBI searched the office of a guy who
apparently is a big time crook? 

Gimme a break.’ 

More Moral Rot In Congress