Bush's Private Mercenary Force
Tod Robberson, in The Dallas Morning News Opinion blog, passes on a report that Blackwater smuggled hundreds fo weapons into Iraq, many of which found their way to the black market. Robberson, reasonably, headlines his blog item, "Why is our money still going to Blackwater?"
The answer lies in a more basic question. Why are George W Bush and Dick Cheney still on the public payroll?
The answer to that is multi-layered. The most obvious answer is that the votes aren't there to remove these two by impeachment and conviction in the Senate.
Why the votes aren't there is because party politics has completely replaced the checks and balances set up in the Constitution by dividing government between the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches. Without political parties, Congress by now would have impeached and removed Bush for high crimes and misdemeanors against the Constitution. The indictment would have many counts. Take your pick on which ones to convict him on. But with political parties, the Republicans in Congress see their primary role not as members of a Congress acting as a check on the President, but as supporters of a fellow Republican against the Democrats in Congress. Congress is divided by political party and impotent to act as a check and balance against a runaway Executive. It's a flaw in the Constitution unforeseen by our Founding Fathers. Luckily for us, it has not (yet) been a fatal flaw.
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