August 2, 2005
RECLAIMING LOST GROUND:
Privilege at Stake With Nominees (Peter Baker, August 2, 2005, Washington Post)
The principle at stake is one that has been a source of friction over the limits of presidential power since George Washington. Under President Bill Clinton, multiple clashes with Congress, the judiciary and independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr chipped away at attorney-client and executive privileges on sensitive documents and conversations. But since coming to power, Bush has doggedly reclaimed turf that eroded under Clinton, asserting the power of his office to shield everything from energy policy deliberations to the papers of past presidents."For better or worse, the Bush administration has done a much more effective job than we did of protecting privileges," said Ronald A. Klain, a lawyer who served as chief of staff to Vice President Al Gore.
Nothing reflects better on America than how little lasting damage Bill Clinton was able to effect. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 2, 2005 6:42 AM
It's nothing short of a miracle.
Posted by: erp at August 2, 2005 1:29 PMJimmy Carter, too.
Amazing that the only 2 Democratic presidents in the last 36 (!!!) years have been such disasterous cyphers. As was the previous one, Lyndon Johnson.
Posted by: ray at August 2, 2005 9:20 PMCarter was better than Nixon or Ford--LBJ did plenty of damage though.
Posted by: oj at August 2, 2005 9:25 PMCarter might have been the worst President in American history. Ford was a cipher, Rockefeller was really the President. Nixon was terrible but comparing him to Carter is like comparing Pierce to Buchanan.
Posted by: bart at August 3, 2005 8:42 AMNo man loved by Hawthorne and Tom is entirely without merit.
Posted by: oj at August 3, 2005 9:35 AMoj. You can't mean it?
Posted by: erp at August 5, 2005 6:36 PM