Bush's Shadow (Shameless) Government In Full Bloom

Pentagon Prevents Military Officers From Testifying Before House Panel

The resistance toward testifying before Congress offered by the Bush gang seems to be infiltrating to all levels of government, including our military. Not only did White House Special Counsel Goodling refuse to appear before Congress, threatening to exercise her Fifth Amendment rights, but Attorney General Gonzalez, President Bush and Vice President Cheney have issued demands that any testimony offered by executive branch officials should be without swearing an oath.

Of course, whenever these folks have appeared before Congress, the testimony given is so full of skirting the issues, failure to recall events and details, and deliberate obstructionist stonewalling that it seems that Bush and his gang of fascist thugs are thumbing their noses at Congress... again.

But what does it say about the ethical and legal status of our government when our leaders and officials will not offer honest and full testimony before Congress, deliberately ignores or circumvents our laws, grabs for power in an unconstitutional manner, and creates an environment where even our military officers--who are sworn to protect and preserve the Constitution--are prevented from answering to lawful civilian authority (i.e. Congress)?

Just who in the hell does Bush, his administration and the Pentagon think they are by demanding conditions under which they will testify before Congress? Does Bush not remember that Nixon was told he does not have such rights or privileges? Has anyone in the Bush administration or the Pentagon bothered to read, and understand, our Constitution? Do these folks know that they work for us and that Congress is empowered to assure that the work they do complies with our laws, principles, will and our Constitution?

Once again we see that this administration sees itself as being well above the law. Impeachment is our only hope of restoring our faith, confidence, order and rule of law.

Pentagon lawyers abruptly blocked mid-level active-duty military officers from speaking Thursday during a closed-door House Armed Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee briefing about their personal experiences working with Iraqi security forces.

The Pentagon's last-minute refusal to allow the officers' presentations surprised panel members and congressional aides, who are in the middle of an investigation into the effort to train and organize Iraqi forces.

Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Martin Meehan, D-Mass., called the Pentagon's move "outrageous" and left open the possibility of issuing subpoenas. "We have the power and the authority to subpoena whoever we want," Meehan said.

The episode was "one of these out-of-the-blue, what-is-going-on kinds of things," said Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee ranking member Todd Akin, R-Mo.

A Pentagon spokeswoman defended the decision, stating that the committee did not comply with "long-standing" Defense Department policy stipulating that briefings not be recorded.

The committee had agreed not to record the briefing, the spokeswoman said. But, she added, "When we went there, we found out that it was going to be recorded and it wasn't in compliance with our policy."

But Meehan said he only heard about the issue of recording shortly before the meeting. The subcommittee's policy is to record all briefings, he said.

"The Pentagon does not make our rules," Meehan said.

The standoff between the Pentagon and the panel occurred as Congress and the White House remain locked in a battle over access to information on the Justice Department's firing of eight U.S. attorneys. President Bush has refused to allow senior aides to testify under oath during public proceedings. Instead, the White House has offered aides to speak only privately with lawmakers -- with no transcript.