Alberto on the Hill

As Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who I never thought deserved his job, takes the stand to testify on Capitol Hill today, we may finally see the new Congress acting like a real legislative body by being an effective check to the legislative branch.

One of the nicer things about having a divided government (Republican executive and Democratic legislative) is that Congress will no longer act as a rubber stamp to the President and let him act above the law. From suspending habeas corpus to wiretapping without a warrant and that little war in Iraq started under dubious – if not false – pretenses, the president and his entire branch of office has been unchecked by Congress. Part of Congress’ job is acting as a buffer to the president when he breaks the law or extends executive power beyond the limits of the Constitution.

Depending on Gonzales’ performance in this bungled and mismanaged affair involving the attorney firings, we may see the first appropriate use of Congressional oversight on this issue since Bush came to office. There were no Congressional hearings (serious ones, anyway) on any of the issues I described above. The last president to act so boldly with executive power and privilege was Nixon, and we all remember how that turned out.