http://tinyurl.com/2vglxe [1] (Think Progress)
http://tinyurl.com/39zcxa [2] (Democratic Underground)
http://tinyurl.com/3dw8df [3] (Daily Kos)
Despite having withdrawn his nomination just weeks ago to avoid political embarrassment in the Senate, the White House has just recess-appointed SBVT funder and major RNC meal ticket Sam Fox to his previously-rejected post as Ambassador to Belgium.
This is so totally wrong, in so many different ways.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democrats will be assessing every option -- both legal and within the SFRC itself -- for taking on this recess appointment.
Never before has a withdrawn nominee been recess appointed in this fashion. The White House withdrew Fox's nomination on March 27th, less than an hour before the hearing was to start, admitting later that he did not have the votes to survive.
It’s sad (but not surprising) that this White House would abuse the power of the presidency to send a big-money Rethug Party donor to a post in Belgium over the objections of the Senate.
When it comes to getting body armor for our soldiers or relief for New Orleans, they’re AWOL, but they'll move heaven and earth to reward a smear.
This administration has governed on fear and smear for far too long. Today's move shows it is so wedded to the politics of personal character assassination that they are willing to take unprecedented steps to reward Sam Fox with an ambassadorship that he clearly does not deserve.
Last week, the White House acknowledged that Sam Fox did not have the support of the Foreign Relations committee to succeed. Rather than lose a vote, they withdrew his nomination. Rather than fight on principle, though, they are hiding behind cowardly and perhaps illegal tactics instead.
Today we see they will go to any lengths to reward one of their biggest donors with a post he is not qualified for and does not deserve, no matter what the many legal, ethical, and moral objections to that unprecedented action might justifiably be.
It’s not just arrogant, but also cowardly for the Bush administration to buck the will of the Foreign Relations Committee just to reward a big-money donor whose nomination was already withdrawn to avoid outright rejection by the Senate.
This is another abuse of power by this White House and shows an utter disregard of Congress's role in the nominating process. It’s time this White House learns it can’t change the rules just to win its game.
Never before has a president used a recess appointment to support a withdrawn nominee like this. But every time this president and his crew act on the idea that if they can’t win the game, then they just change the rules, our democracy and the Constitution loses.
SO...
Call your Congressmen! Call your Senators! Call the White House, stat!
(If you don't have the contact info handy, you can always go to http://www/firstgov.com [4] and drill down from there.)
White House phone numbers:
202-456-1414 (switchboard)
202-456-1111 (comments line)
Bush & Company's power-mad abuse of all the legal, ethical, and moral tenets that underlie our system of representative government MUST be constrained, period.
So put pressure on all your legislative representatives, in both the House and Senate, to use this latest example of egregious excess on the part of a desperate Bush administration to:
(1) Scuttle Sam Fox's bogus recess appointment;
(2) As the final straw that broke the threatened Iraq-withdrawal veto's back
(3) And to finally impeach this morally-bankrupt presidency once and for all.
Speak up! Act out! Don't delay -- the Constitution you save might be your own!
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