At this morning's meeting, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said saving the Constitution is of paramount importance -- of such importance that the freshman class has been tasked with whipping votes on the contempt of Congress citations for White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolton and former Deputy Chief of Staff Harriet Miers. (Both have refused to testify on their role in the controversial firings of eight U.S. attorneys.) In response to a question by Elana Schor of Guardian America, the speaker said, "If we let the status quo stand, on their refusal to turn over the documents or have the show up to answer the questions of Congress, then we might was well invalidate our oath of office." That's a wonderfully strong statement. But then why, in the House, where seniority is everything, has the fate of the U.S. Constitution been left in the hands of the freshman members? It's a question I ask with all due respect. Why is this fight not being fought without quarter, floor vote after floor vote? --Adele M. Stan
