SUN EDITORIAL:

Mr. Executive Privilege

President Bush will be taking plenty of secrets with him upon retirement to Texas

Mon, Nov 17, 2008 (2:09 a.m.)

Every American president leaves office with secrets that are not uncovered until decades later, if at all. Citizens are left wondering why the nation’s chief executives made certain decisions or why some of those actions weren’t disclosed to the public until long after the presidents waved goodbye to the White House.

With a voracious appetite for declaring executive privilege virtually every chance he got, don’t be surprised to see President George W. Bush leaving behind a legacy shrouded in secrecy — more than most administrations — as he retires in January to the comforts of his Texas lifestyle.

As much as Democratic members of Congress may want to gather more information from the Republican administration on its conduct in a variety of areas that merit investigation, getting cooperation from Bush and his underlings is not likely to be an easy task, even after the president leaves office. At least that’s what was reported Thursday by The New York Times, which raised the possibility that Bush could still assert power under the Constitution to block subpoenas after his term ends.

Although there are legitimate arguments for maintaining secrets related to national security, it is hard to see how Bush and his administration can continue to stay silent on other matters, including the firing of federal prosecutors, the meetings Vice President Dick Cheney held with energy executives and the harsh treatment of foreign detainees.

Americans who value transparent government clearly did not have a friend in Bush. The president has treated his nearly eight years in office as though he were an imperial leader who did not feel the need to answer to the public or admit to any mistakes in judgment.

As awful as his presidency has been both at home and abroad, imagine how much more his popularity would sink if we learned what he actually did all these years in the Oval Office.

Discussion: 10 comments so far…

By uddeboda

11/17/08 at 4:06 a.m.

Suggest removal

I dont think his popularity will sink any further, because he did absolutely nothing of good during his 8 years as imperial dictator.
By laguna

11/17/08 at 11:50 a.m.

Suggest removal

Obama starts his presidency with more unanswered questions about himself than any other pres. elect. What can we expect from him when HE leaves office? That is much more of a risk than Bush on his way out.
By JahReb

11/17/08 at 12:04 p.m.

Suggest removal

I believe it is the Obama admin. responsibility to put the full-court press on uncovering all of the despicable things Bush-Cheney tried to hide under executive privilege. No presidential admin. has come even close to claiming exec. privilege as many times as they did, something was clearly afoot insofar as their attempts at hiding the truth. The american public deserves the truth.

And I think once these things are brought to everyone's attention, we could be and SHOULD be looking at potential treason and war crimes charges against Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney. And I for one, cannot wait to see it happen.
By halfacre

11/17/08 at 1:56 p.m.

Suggest removal

Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney should be hauled out of the White House and be taken straight to a holding Cell to await trial for High Crimes and Traitorous acts against the American People and the Constitution which he was suppose protect and defend. Now ask me how I really feel!!
By jfnance32

11/17/08 at 1:58 p.m.

Suggest removal

Obama should place all his effort.....ALL OF IT...into convicting Bush and putting him and his cabinet and Cheney into jail.

Obama should work on this day and night 24/7.
By boftx

11/17/08 at 5:08 p.m.

Suggest removal

Doing anything about Bush now is just plain idiotic. Voters had the chance to do something in 2004 and blew it one way or another.

There was another chance in 2006 but Pelosi took impeachment off the table. Now THAT is worth investigating. For all the blame we heap on the Bush administration for our current ills, Pelosi and Reid have had plenty of input and control for the last 2 years.
By PatriciaLV

11/17/08 at 5:15 p.m.

Suggest removal

I will probably go to my grave wondering why oh WHY Pelosi took impeachment off the table.

I can't think of anything outside the actual Bush administration that smelled worse than that.

BTW, anyone can find out all the E.O.s simply by perusing the White House web site. It's not as if most of them were publicized (oh that darn liberal media at work again). And anything that WAS publicized was done on a Friday late when no one was really paying attention.
By jfnance32

11/17/08 at 8:20 p.m.

Suggest removal

Nooooo....you must call Obama, Pelosi and Reid and demand......DEMAND.....that they spend all their time and resources and put Bush and his friends into jail.

CALL THEM NOW!!!!!!!!!
By uddeboda

11/17/08 at 11:47 p.m.

Suggest removal

Why did Pelosi remove impeachment, could it be that she has been rewarded financially, that is on top of all the other backhanders she is receiving. The whole lot are so corrupt that is makes me vomit
By johnevegas

11/18/08 at 4:57 a.m.

Suggest removal

"Obama should place all his effort...into convicting Bush and putting him and his cabinet and Cheney into jail."

Now you're talking Jim. Great idea, but wasteful of Obama's time.

Instead I suggest Obama call up his terrorist friends and ask for some "help". Wink wink, nudge nudge, know what I mean?