Unchecked

"To what purpose then require the co-operation of the Senate? I answer, that the necessity of their concurrence would have a powerful, though, in general, a silent operation. It would be an excellent check upon a spirit of favoritism in the President, and would tend greatly to prevent the appointment of unfit characters from State prejudice, from family connection, from personal attachment, or from a view to popularity. . . . He would be both ashamed and afraid to bring forward, for the most distinguished or lucrative stations, candidates who had no other merit than that of coming from the same State to which he particularly belonged, or of being in some way or other personally allied to him, or of possessing the necessary insignificance and pliancy to render them the obsequious instruments of his pleasure." - Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Papers, "The Appointing Power of the President," No. 76

It's difficult to find an area of governance in which President Bush has not been attempting to dismantle democracy, but one of the clearest examples of him doing so is his use of recess appointments to bypass Senate confirmation for his nominations.

The installation of “loyalist” Rood is only the latest chapter in the Bush administration’s efforts to avoid Senate confirmation for positions that require it. In June, the Washington Post reported that Bush used recess appointments to place 105 people in full-time positions and 66 in part-time slots, which is more than Bill Clinton installed in his entire presidency.

This is what the President does at every step. He looks for some way to get around democratic procedure to find someway to execute, not this nation's laws as he swore to do, but his personal fiat. President Bush expects the Senate to rubber stamp his nominations, and if they won't then he will just appoint them anyway by finding a loophole where democracy can be subverted.

What this reveals is that President Bush intends for the role of the Senate to be largely ceremonial. He wants them to provide the pretense of confirmation and oversight to disguise his authoritarian rule. It is truly sickening.

What President Bush has done is demonstrate a crack in the confirmation process which allows persons without integrity and civic virtue (such as George W. Bush) to act as a King rather than a president. Congress must write legislation to stop this from happening again in the future.

But that's not enough. This president holds our country and its principles in contempt. He has violated his oath of office. In Thursday night's Democratic debate, Dennis Kucinich provided an answer:

"It's called impeachment, and you don't wait. You do it now."