John Nichols: Baldwin has a plan to renew the Constitution

John Nichols  —  11/04/2008 8:47 pm

Barack Obama and John McCain may have disagreed on many issues during the long 2008 presidential campaign, but they were aligned on two things:

1. Both the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees were agreed that the man they sought to replace, George W. Bush, had mangled, mismanaged and abused his position.

2. Both Obama and McCain asserted, in a bipartisan repetition that grew surreal in its similarity, that there was a need to "change" Washington.

So now that the voting is done, the governing begins.

But how do we change Washington?

Or, to be more precise, how do we restore the system of checks and balances that was thrown out of whack by a president whose familiarity with the Constitution might generously be described as rudimentary and a vice president who was openly at odds with the document and its defenders?

Tammy Baldwin has an idea.

The congresswoman from Madison, overwhelmingly re-elected and charged by her constituents to continue her essential work on the Judiciary Committee to renew the rule of law, proposes the Executive Accountability Act of 2008.

"Over the past several years, serious questions have been raised about the conduct of high ranking Bush/Cheney administration officials in relation to some of the most basic elements of our democracy: respect for the rule of law, the principle of checks and balances, and the fundamental freedoms enshrined in the Bill of Rights," argues Baldwin. "The list of abuses of executive branch power is long, as are the administration's attempts to impede congressional oversight. Indeed, Congress has presented President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and other Bush/Cheney administration officials with ample opportunities to reverse these abusive actions and restore our democracy. At each step, they have, instead, chosen to show contempt for the Congress and the American public. We must look to the next administration -- and the next president -- to show leadership in restoring executive branch accountability."

To wit, Baldwin wants Congress to call on the next president to immediately and publicly reaffirm the commitment of the United States to the rule of law.

Specifically, the Executive Accountability Acts directs the incoming commander in chief to:

Fully investigate Bush/Cheney administration officials' alleged crimes and hold them accountable for any illegal acts.

Ensure that any Bush/Cheney administration official guilty of a war crime is prosecuted under the War Crimes Act and the Anti-Torture Act.

Affirm that it is the sole legal right of Congress to declare war.

Restore the writ of habeas corpus as an essential principle of our democracy.

Ensure that torture and rendition are uniformly prohibited under United States law.

Immediately close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.

Ensure that Americans can bring claims against their government.

Immediately take affirmative steps to protect all documents from the Bush/Cheney administration and publicly reaffirm that the Office of the Vice President is indeed part of the executive branch.

Publicly review potential abuses of the presidential pardon process.

Reform the use of presidential signing statements.

In the period between now and the day when George Bush and Dick Cheney surrender their positions to the nation's newly elected leaders, Baldwin will be urging her colleagues "to express the sense of the House of Representatives that the next president of the United States should take immediate steps upon assuming office to reverse damaging and illegal actions taken by the Bush/Cheney administration and to collaborate with Congress to proactively prevent any further abuses of executive branch power."

On the surface, this may seen like a last jab at Bush and Cheney, and surely the portions of this proposal that address holding the former president and vice president, and members of their administration, to account will not sit well with those who would prefer to forgive and forget.

But the real focus of the Executive Accountability Act is on the next presidency and the next Congress. The proposal seeks to restore a measure of balance between the branches of government -- a balance that the founders of the American experiment saw as vital to the right functioning of the republic. In that sense, there is nothing of the left or right, nothing liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican about Baldwin's bill. It is an American initiative, steeped in historic ideals of this great but battered land.

Baldwin's willingness to advance it should make the constituents who re-elected her on Tuesday proud.

But this goes far beyond Madison and Wisconsin.

That there is a member of Congress who stands at the ready to right the course of our American journey gives meaning to the campaign-trail preachments of all the contenders.

Washington is broken.

Tammy Baldwin seeks to repair it.

"On Jan. 20, 2009, the next president of the United States will stand before the American people and take an oath of office to 'preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,' " the congresswoman says. "Along with this oath, it is my fervent hope that he will take the decisive actions detailed in this legislation to restore our democracy."

John Nichols is associate editor of The Capital Times. jnichols@madison.com. For more on the aftermath of the 2008 election and the transition process from the Bush/Cheney administration to the next American presidency, visit www.captimes.com.

John Nichols  —  11/04/2008 8:47 pm