Prediction on Specter v. Bush: Specter will cave

Arlen Specter is going to hold hearings on Bush's claim to be above the law. Glenn Greenwald summarizes and comments:

We are treated today to a small though vivid illustration of how our democracy is supposed to work. On Sunday, The Boston Globe's Charlie Savage published a lengthy and exceedingly detailed article reporting that "President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution."

Today, Republican Sen. Arlen Specter, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, vowed to hold hearings on this rather startling (though not exactly new) presidential lawbreaking crisis in our country….

To recap: a Republican Senator is vowing to hold hearings because the President of the United States has embraced theories which maintain that he has the right to break the law and has, consistent with those theories, been breaking the law repeatedly and deliberately. Maybe some journalists other than Savage and The Boston Globe could tell their readers about that extremely significant fact…

But the more out in the open those theories become, the less possible it will to ignore them. It is hard to imagine even Americans who are apathetic (or, as in Specter's case, craven and meek) expressing indifference over the fact that the President has -- literally and expressly -- declared himself to be outside of, and above, the law.

Unfortunately, Specter's hearings have so far led nowhere. He didn't even require the administration witnesses to be put under oath. Nor, has he tried to force compliance with information requests by using his subpoena power. No. I doubt one more Specter hearing will lead to anything more than another whitewash.