Bush White House Embraces A "Middle Finger" Policy

Posted by Guest Blogger at 1:00 PM on July 31, 2007.

The White House apparently has a new policy of giving the middle finger to Congress.

When asked to testify on the Hill or present information requested by Congressional Committee, the Bush Administration has flat-out refused. What will become of this game of political chicken remains to be seen, but the temperature surrounding the test of political wills isn't cooling off. It's only rising.

Consider these examples. Today, the White House refused to comply with a request from a Republican Senator, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, for information about Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' conflicting testimony on a secret domestic spying program. The Attorney General's leadership style apparently has created an example at Justice.

Last week, the department's Voting Section Chief, John Tanner, also refused to appear at a House Judiciary Committee Committee hearing that was going to explore selective prosecution of election laws.

Also today, Vice-President Dick Cheney is expected to snub a House Natural Resources Committee hearing on how his office has influenced environmental policy.

And tomorrow, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld apparently will miss a hearing on the friendly fire death of Army Specialist Pat Tillman. In journalism school, they teach you that three examples of anything is a trend.

UPDATE: Rumsfeld changes course, will testify in Wednesday hearing on Tillman death

RAW STORY has learned that the former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld will testify at a Wednesday hearing on the friendly fire death of Army Specialist and former NFL player Pat Tillman.

"In a late breaking development, Secretary Rumsfeld will appear before the Oversight Committee tomorrow," stated a release from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

The release was confirmed by the Oversight Committee's Republican staff.

Earlier, RAW STORY reported that Rumsfeld had "a conflict," and had submitted answers to questions for the record.

No explanation was available at press time for Rumsfeld's change of heart.

Tagged as: cheney, rumsfeld, white house, gonzales, tillman

Steven Rosenfeld is a senior fellow at Alternet.org and co-author of What Happened in Ohio: A Documentary Record of Theft and Fraud in the 2004 Election, with Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman (The New Press, 2006).