I'm a very straightforward fellow, most of the time. I find it hard to look at most political issues and see beyond the surface; that's a big reason why I post so few diaries here. But over the weekend, it hit me like the proverbial bolt from the blue: it's not about immunity!
Most of the progressive blogosphere (by the way, does anyone still call it "Left Blogistan"?) is riled up right now about the revision to the FISA law that's about to be debated in the Senate. The one our Esteemed And Fearless Leader Harry Reid chose to bring to a vote, the Intelligence Committee version, which includes retroactive immunity for the various telecommunications companies that have been aiding and abetting the massive invasion of Americans' privacy. I realized over the weekend the President doesn't need Congress' assent to give the telcos immunity; he already has the power to do that, granted by that quaint old piece of paper, the Constitution. All he has to do is grant each telco a full, free, and absolute pardon.
There's even precedent for it, if precedent meant anything to the Royalists. (That's what the little "R" beside John Boehner's name means, you know.) In 1974, Gerald Ford (back when "R" stood for "Republican") granted such a pardon to Richard Nixon for any and all crimes committed between January 20, 1969 and August 9, 1974. Mr. Nixon had not been convicted of any crime, he had not even been charged with a crime. Because of the pardon, he could never be so charged. Clearly a case of "retroactive immunity".
So one must ask, why does the President insist so strongly that Congress must grant this immunity, an immunity that may well not pass constitutional muster (there is, after all, a ban on ex post facto laws)?
Like I said earlier, I'm not very good at seeing beyond surface issues, but it occurs to me this may be laying the groundwork for the 2012 election. If Congress, under the control of the Democrats, grants immunity to such corporate lawbreaking, the Royalist candidate in 2012 can blame his opponents for preventing enforcement. Given the President's hypocritical attacks on budget earmarks in Monday night's State of the Union address, blaming Congress for his own wrongdoing would simply be par for the course.
Please, spread this meme to your Senators. Tell them not to do the President's dirty work for him, If he wants the telcos to have immunity, let him pardon them!