Dems Firmly Stuck in the Past

The House Democrats, unable to accomplish anything of substance, continue to spend their efforts on events from the past which they cannot change, and cannot punish:

The House Judiciary Committee, in a straight party-line vote, approved a contempt resolution against White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers, setting up a constitutional battle between the Bush administration and Congress over executive privilege.

After several hours of skirmishing over whether to send a contempt resolution to the House floor, the committee voted by a 22-17 margin to approve the measure.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other Democratic leaders will now have to decide if and when to hold a vote by the full House on the resolution. A vote could take place as early as next week, said Democratic insiders.

This is doomed to fail. There's no way the courts will allow Congress to subpoena the president's attorney or his chief of staff. Executive discussions at that level are beyond the reach of congressional subpoenas.

The current congress has already earned the "do-nothing" label despite their protestations claiming great deeds. Rather than fix some of the big problems facing the country, they persist in their efforts to uncover wrongdoing where none can exist. They still haven't figured out that the president can hire or fire U.S. Attorneys at his pleasure on any whim that strikes him, including political considerations. Whether those firings were discussed by senior White House officials is irrelevant.

This effort will needlessly tie up the courts and officials, and in the end, will be fruitless like much of the efforts of this congress.