Conservatives Rediscover Passion for Limits on Executive Power
Karl Rove, “The Architect” of the collapse of the conservative political coalition and the rise of a Republican president so inept that he’s presided over two failed wars a global economic meltdown the worst terrorist attack in American history and the destruction of a major American city, warns us of trouble ahead:
There are also plans to use the Obama campaign’s email list to lobby for Mr. Obama’s policies. The Chicago Tribune, reporting comments from Obama spokesman Steve Hildebrand, summed up the plan this way: the email list could be used “to challenge Democratic lawmakers if they don’t hew to the Obama agenda.”
Just one problem. It’s illegal. There are statutory prohibitions on the White House from using tax dollars to directly lobby Congress by unleashing emails, calls and visits. That’s up to outside groups to do.
Rove is confused here. The list belongs to Obama for America. The proposal would be for that organization to continue to exist in some form, still controlling the list and still maintaining a relationship with Obama’s supporter. That separate organization would be engaged in whatever activities are being contemplated.
But it’s worth basking a bit in this persnickety concern for legal niceties. After all, Rove and George W. Bush have propounded the view that if Obama wants to bring pressure on Democratic lawmaker there’s nothing stopping him from ordering surveillance of the phone calls and emails made by members, their staffs, and their families in order to gain information with which to blackmail them. That sort of thing happened regularly, typically with FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover rather than a president as such being the main instigator, before 1970s-era surveillance reforms that Bush believes can just be ignored. Similarly, Obama could have family members of congressmen kidnapped and shipped off to secret facilities where they’ll be threatened with torture. Or the member themselves could be held without trial indefinitely in offshore military facilities. There’s a lot more to worry about than hanky-panky with email lists. Welcome to the brave new world.
42 Responses to “Conservatives Rediscover Passion for Limits on Executive Power”
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November 20th, 2008 at 10:08 am
j. edgar.
j. edgar hoover was the cia guy, not herb.
November 20th, 2008 at 10:08 am
or fbi, whatever.
November 20th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Setting over/under on time to MY “Barack Osama” slip at 3 months.
November 20th, 2008 at 10:11 am
sloppy but interesting post, worth proofreading.
November 20th, 2008 at 10:14 am
FBI Director Herbert Hoover
Wow. That’s impressive, even by Yglesias standards.
November 20th, 2008 at 10:22 am
It’s J. Edgar Hoover, Matt….
I’ve heard another frequent argument along similar lines to Rove’s “using tax dollars to send out emails” argument, which seems to construe the Hatch act in reverse and conclude that public politicians are not allowed to use outside, independent organizations to promote their legislative agenda and must use government resources…
November 20th, 2008 at 10:39 am
If this post were not so poorly edited, it could be picked up widely since the point is quite good. Such are the very real costs of not proofreading.
November 20th, 2008 at 10:41 am
Of course we saw this coming. Republicans only believe in the Unitary Executive when the Executive is Republican. They only believe in unrivaled Executive power when the Executive is Republican. They don’t believe in the filibuster when they are in power (I thought/said as much when Republicans were whining about getting rid of it). Of course they thought there were creating a permanent Republican Majority so they never thought that doing away with the old conventions wouldn’t necessarily be a good thing.
Of course Republicans being called out on this regularly by the press and the pundits until it become the conventional wisdom is not likely to happen.
November 20th, 2008 at 10:45 am
If this post were not so poorly edited, it could be picked up widely since the point is quite good. Such are the very real costs of not proofreading.
Yes, if only Matt would proofread his blog more, perhaps he could attain a position of prominence in the liberal blogosphere.
November 20th, 2008 at 10:51 am
Didn’t these guys perfect the “use your personal or RNC email for skanky govt business” diversion ?
November 20th, 2008 at 11:06 am
Frank Luntz has finally got it through these assclowns’ heads how bad Obama has shifted to political center of gravity in this country with his campaign’s marketing savvy.
I loved hearing him point out the power of Obama for America’s email/sms list and juxtaposing that with the fact that the ‘08 GOP nominee doesn’t know how to use a blackberry.
November 20th, 2008 at 11:06 am
In the early 1960s, the true ruler of America was not the President, but FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover. (This period is known to constitutional historians as the Power Vacuum.)
November 20th, 2008 at 11:27 am
You mean a Republican falsely accuses a Democrat of something the Republican himself did… I’m just simply shocked.
November 20th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
We it be considered torture for Rove to get the nuclear wedgie he so deserves? He might like it – might make him feel like he was back in high school again.
November 20th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Since Think Progress is pretty good at managing comments (unlike certain previous Yglesias employers I could name,) would it be possible to create a separate thread where 20 people could proudly ID the typos everyone with an IQ over 70 already spotted, leaving the rest of us with the possibility of a readable thread?
November 20th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
My favorite thing about President-elect Obama is that he behaves like it’s still possible for good people to have an honest difference of opinion.
Karl Rove is neither. SO I think we anonymous blog commenters should all just say, “Karl, STFU.”
November 20th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Karl Rove is surely the very last person in the world to dictate what is and is not proper use of email.
November 20th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Yes, like concerns about gerrymandering, or fiscal responsibility, executive power concerns tend to flip flop between the parties depending upon whether or not they are in power. There is usually only a very short window where those concerns are taken seriously based on your out-of-power rhetoric before they are abandonded while in power. (See for example Krugman’s less-than-one-week flip flop on the dangers of budget deficits depending on who held Congress in 2006).
November 20th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
presumably, yglesias was drunk when he wrote this.
November 20th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
That picture! Creepy man! Staring at me! AAaaaahhh!!
Good God Matthew, are you trying to kill me??
November 20th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
I second amandaw.
November 20th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Ahhh, the sweet smell of ecology at work. Perhaps they really did believe they were on a godly mission, that they’d have a permanent majority. Perhaps they didn’t understand the basic concepts of survival of the fittest; and that the very pruning they gave dems made them politically stronger, honed the political minds of the new team, the new species that’s evolved before their very eyes. (They only believe in economic evolution.)
Sorry, couldn’t resist. It’s just I’ve been waiting for signs that someone in the Consevosphere to wake up and smell the coffee with a Liberal President and the power of the Unitary Executive. ‘Course it was too late with the mid-term elections, wasn’t it?
November 20th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Good thing we have Rove around to be Obama’s Jiminy Cricket. He would never use tax dollars for partisan political purposes.
Oh wait…
How Rove Directed Federal Assets for GOP Gains
Report: Taxpayers paid for GOP politicking in 2006 elections
November 20th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
You probably don’t even realize you just insulted the liberal blogosphere.
What other lies do you love?
November 20th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
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