I’ve been arguing about this all day with commenters and still haven’t gotten a good answer. Why the fixation on Rush as a “private citizen”? The idea, I take it, is that Obama’s bringing the enormous power of the presidency to bear on a poor, defenseless Joe Public, but Limbaugh’s anything but defenseless (as today’s debate challenge proves) and considerably more powerful, I think we’d all agree, than the average congressman who would be considered fair game as a public official. If the White House had picked him out of a phone book or was rooting around in his trash, that’d be an egregious breach of privacy, but he’s one of the most powerful people in American media, with a following in the millions, and they haven’t done anything untoward (yet?). In fact, strictly speaking, they’re not “going after” him at all. They’re going after the GOP, to tar them by association with Rush and they’re willing to inflate his influence to do so. It’s Republicans who are suffering from having to thread the needle between defending Limbaugh and rejecting the “I want him to fail” rhetoric. What harm has Rush suffered? His stature’s never been greater, as he himself acknowledges right here.

OK, I do not have the time to read all of this thread, so if I am repeating a previous argument I am sorry. But here is why this is horrible AP.

The Constitution of the United States was written with an understand about abuse of power. One of the things that was specifically addressed was the use of government power against an individual without due process. Our Constitution outlaws Bills of Attainder for this specific reason.

If you are not aware, a Bill of Attainder is a legislative act that is used to single out an individual or group of people for punishment without a trial. This was placed in the Constitution as a way to ensure that the legislative branch did not exercise functions that are reserved for the judiciary.

The same is true of the Executive branch but it is not codified in the Constitution explicitly. It has been recognized from the time of George Washington that it is not proper for the executive branch to single out an individual for chastisement and that all members of the Executive from the President down should always refer judgment to the judiciary and allow due process to run its course.

What the executive branch is doing to Rush in some ways is worse. They are using their power and prestige to attack an individual American. It sets a precedent that it is fine for the government to do so. While this initial foray may sound benign to you, once you start down this path it leads to places that none of us want our government to go. It opens the door to oppressive use of the IRS, FBI, ATF, EPA, and many other agencies controlled by the executive branch.

Even if the actions by Obama and the executive are not overtly using agencies to intimidate or punish Rush, the effort is intimidation nevertheless. You don’t have to bash in the windshield of somebodies car to intimidate. It is just as effective to stare them in the eyes and start cracking your knuckles, if you have enough strength to back it up. Nobody has more power to intimidate than the U.S. government, nobody. It is a horrible step in an entirely horrible direction.

Hawthorne on March 6, 2009 at 6:42 AM