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The Essence of Democratic Representation
The test of the metal of a federal legislator in the American republic is whether that elected person will independently question the demeanor of the Executive Branch when suspicion is cast upon it. It is a litmus test of sorts which will determine if the legislator is in the President's hip-pocket or properly reflecting the will of the electorate, who placed her into office. The essence of representative government is not found in the portable "Robert's Rules of Order" or in the Congressional protocol that caters to Senate and House partisan politics, but, rather, in the distinctions between right and wrong and the concepts of honesty and dishonesty. The philosophical approach to political ethics is a broad door to what legislators like to consider as practical expediency and pragmatism. These two terms, expediency and pragmatism, serve most legislators in Congress as the means of getting a measure passed which is 30 percent right and 70 percent wrong. If such a measure is passed by the majority vote of the controlling political party, the only actions the minority party can take are either coalescence to the majority view or independent or united opposition to the wrong view.
If, per chance, the President has usurped his constitutional power and is exerting undue influence on the majority party in the House or Senate to pass a partcular measure, it is the duty of any member of Congress, regardless of party affiliation, to stand and denounce that action. If the President is suspected of doning anything illegal under the Constitution or any other federal law, it is the duty of any member of Congress, who has weighed the evidence and feels there is probable cause for suspicion, to stand and voice the suspicion on the floor of her respective chamber.
All of this said, I call upon Congressman Jay Inslee, Senator Patty Murray, and Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington State to closely examine the actions of President George W. Bush which occurred directly after 9/11. All of the cogent evidence thus far brought forward indicates that Mr. Bush was culpable of obstruction of justice when he directly or indirectly ordered that the family of Osama Bin Laden be flown out of the United States by a federal jet at a time when all of the civilian aircraft was ordered grounded. If Mr. Bush did order this action, he was not above the law and cannot invoke executive privilege to seek immunity. Had any other citizen of the United States sought to obscure evidence in the 9/11 investigation, he/she would have been speedily arrested and incarcerated.
A democratic constitutional republic will only endure the test of time if the elected representatives of the people honestly and faithfully discharge their duty to protect and defend the written constitutional law against all enemies, foreign and domestic. It was Thomas Jefferson who stated in 1790, "I have sworn upon the altar of freedom eternal vigilence against all tyranny over the mind of man."
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Norton R. Nowlin, a creator of prose, poetry, and essays, seeking to come into his own flourishing moment of recognition.
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