The Rove subpoena

Of course he must testify. I hope Obama’s apparent hesitation is just a head-fake.

I don’t see why this is even a close call. Constitutionally, the notion that any sort of skulduggery in the White House is exempt from Congressional oversight doesn’t pass the giggle test. Politically, Obama ran on restoration of Constitutional government; he doesn’t have to worry about Congress going after his folks, partly because they’re Democrats and partly because he doesn’t plan to commit any crimes; and revelations about Republican corruption can only be helpful to the cause.

And of course the Bushies are completely stuck: if the Executive is in fact unitary, as they’ve been claiming for eight years, then the current Chief Executive gets to decide whether Executive Branch officials have to testify.

So I’m hoping that the hesitation here is just a head-fake, and that the President will choose to enrage (some of) his enemies rather than (most of) his friends.

If you agree, you might send a note (no more than 500 characters) to the Whitehouse.gov comment line.

Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com