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On Friday, Eleanor Holmes Norton, the non-voting congressional representative for the District of Columbia, defended the Obama Administration angrily as she declared that Americans have no right to know what goes on in their government.
“You don’t have a right to know everything in a separation-of-powers government, my friend. That is the difference between a parliamentary government and a separation-of-powers government,” Norton claimed during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing.
Allow me to make this clear: A Democrat representative told the House Oversight Committee that they have no right to scrutinize government. The committee, as the name would suggest, is responsible for overseeing the federal government as a check against abuses of power.
Allow me to make this clear: A Democrat representative told the House Oversight Committee that they have no right to scrutinize government. The committee, as the name would suggest, is responsible for overseeing the federal government as a check against abuses of power.
What Norton seems to have confused is that it is the very principle of scrutiny that defines a government that is equipped with a separation of powers. Each branch of government checks the power of the other branches of government.
executive privilege n. a claim by the President or another high official of the executive branch that he/she need not answer a request (including a subpena issued by a court or Congress) for confidential government or personal communications, on the ground that such revelations would hamper effective governmental operations and decision-making. The rationale is that such a demand would violate the principle of separation of powers among the executive, legislative and judicial branches.
To add insult to injury, the Democrats have continually fought to defend the president’s violations, abuses and secrecy with a hubris not seen in government since the days of King Louis XVI.
originally posted by: Diderot
a reply to: xuenchen
Dear Mr. X, So you agree that
"Rep. Norton was inarticulate and somewhat clumsy in her statement. But what she said and what you claim she said are distinctly different."
So it seems that we both agree.
originally posted by: theantediluvian
a reply to: xuenchen
Tisk Tisk.
Putting words in other peoples' mouths isn't fair.
Isn't that exactly what you did with the misleading title though?
Executive privilege was invoked on multiple occasions by Bush, Clinton, etc.
Former Democratic strategist James Carville sounded a little exasperated Thursday when he admitted President Obama “doesn’t really care” what the American people think about his presidency.
James Carville: Obama ‘Doesn’t Really Care’ What The American People Think