Creeping Tyranny

Creeping Tyranny: The last Session of Congress passed a little noticed amendment to the Patriot Act which, in impact, authorizes the President to dismiss United States Attorneys without cause, then appoint his choice without Senate confirmation. By early 2007, a substantial number of those appointments have been made - without Senate approval - or disapproval.

Confirmation of US Attorneys was put into the law to limit the power of the White House to select US Attorneys to manage particular cases or causes. Needless to say, when the President can bypass Senate review on the senior prosecutors in the country, enormous opportunities for abuse exist. This statutory sample of the "checks and balances" process failing can correctly be called "creeping tyranny."

New legislation to reestablish the confirmation requirement has been introduced and may well be passed by the Congress controlled by the Democrats, although President Bush could easily veto that bill. Eventually, it will be passed and until then, the US Attorney's will be under close scrutiny.

By custom, the Senators from states where US Attorney and Federal Judge appointments are being made have high influence in confirmation proceedings in the Senate. Those Senators will be eager, regardless of party, to regain that power. But it is the political conflict between the Executive and the Congress that works to the service of the citizen because agendas are examined and important information about candidates made public.

Through all of US history - and all history in general - people in power have moved to enhance their power. It is part of the territorial imperative that this should be so - and it is part of the civilizing process that the conflict between various powers be regulated. In the US, we do that through the elaborate checks and balances built into the Constitution and subsequent laws.

The Bush Administration, partly through the struggles of war - and partly through the forces of overpaid and over energetic seeking of power - has often failed to genuinely provide their services On Behalf of the People.

Generals at the State Department

The President has been filling top appointments with retired military.

Finding people to fill top positions is tough when at that point in an administration when there is deep trouble. People who make good Under Secretaries have to have a serious background in an area to even want the job - and those sorts of highly skilled people are not inclinded to work for a basic amatuer President like Bush, or a hack political like Clinton that can't keep his sex private. Good people know those are loser appointments - by the President, or not.

Ex-Generals and high ranked military officers are easily bored when they retire, and are handy appointments for the President that can't get other candidates to say yes. I know the White House atmosphere well enough to know that the key movers at the top know that they screwed up in Iraq - and like a person in a bad marriage with a half-dozen kids, can't get out easily. Military appointments at the State Department as so so, probably not a threat - but not very interesting either.

The Bush crew is in trouble in about every way - politically - economically - and can't get out - except by ending their term in 23 months. Retired military are the easy way out to fill a huge number of vacant positions.

Part of the Bush problem is that the super-conservative crowd behind the throne don't wash very well in public - in short - they can't get past the Senate confirmation.

We deal with these problems every day at Presidential-Appointments.org and know the real game in appointments at this point is January 20 - 2009. The present political horse is a dead horse.

John Isaacson
Director@Presidential-Appointments.org