Dodd Faces Difficult Questions at ‘Rule of Law’ Stop

Often at December campaign stops in Iowa, presidential candidates accepting questions from the audience are presented with inquiries that have little, if anything, to do with the topic they came to discuss. Such was not the case at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids when Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd came to discuss the Constitution and the rule of law.

“I think everyone is this room will agree that [President] George Bush and [Vice President] Dick Cheney have abused the Constitution,” said Bill Werner of Cedar Rapids. “If you really believe in restoring Constitutional law, I think George Bush and Dick Cheney really need to be brought to court to answer for all of their crimes. They’ve broken American law. They’ve broken international law… and the Democratic Congress has sat there — spineless — and let them get away with it. I think we need to have these two men held accountable.”

Werner went on to add that he felt that with each passing administration, American presidents were grabbing more and more power. He asked how Dodd, as president, would scale back the powers that have been accumulated by the executive branch.

“Come January 20, I have no hesitancy whatsoever looking back and reaching back,” Dodd said. “Those who have violated the law, the Constitution or any of those principles, will face the bar of justice [when I am] the next president.”

At this point, Dodd was forced to pause his response while the audience applauded his answer. When the audience calmed, he continued, “Implicit in your question, I think, is the question of why we have not filed articles of impeachment or had an impeachment trial. For very practical reasons, I’m not enthusiastic about that approach. Democrats regained the power of the Congress a year ago. I identify with your frustration — particularly on the Iraq war. The one reason we regained the power was because of the Iraq war. More than anything else, it is why people voted for Democrats last fall. They wanted a change in that policy and I think we have failed the people of this country terribly on that issue.”

Congress has failed, according to Dodd, because they have not used the one power bestowed on them by the Founding Fathers to change bad policy: the power of the purse.

“[Congress] does not have the power — nor should it — to manage a conflict,” Dodd said. “The idea of 535 members of Congress deciding what happens operationally, day-to-day when things come and go is not within our power — nor should it be. But the power to stop funding a bad policy is exactly what was given to us by the Founding Fathers. Congress has one obligation, if you think this is a bad policy, stop funding it.”

Dodd also cried foul on those who would say that by withholding funding Congress is not supporting the nation’s military.

“I served in the military,” he said. “I was in the National Guard and the Army Reserves after the Peace Corps. I’m offended by anyone who would suggest that because I’m going to stop funding this policy that I’m going to put our troops at risk. That’s baloney. We are going to do whatever is necessary to see to it that our men and women in uniform are going to be safe and secure. That’s not the issue. The issue is whether or not this policy is worth pursuing or not. Congress has one job: stop funding. I’m the only Democratic [presidential] candidate from the United States Senate that is opposed to funding the conflict in Iraq.”

When it comes to impeachment, however, Dodd said he believes the American people will turn against any party that ties up government and prevents progress on the international and domestic issues our country faces.

“[Impeachment proceedings] would consume the entire year,” he said. “Frankly, I will tell you that the likelihood of us winning the next national election becomes nil if that is all we end up doing over the next year. I think the American people would react terribly negatively — with all the other issues they face, it would look like politics as usual. Democrats going after Republicans with no likelihood whatsoever of producing end results. You might have a trial, but you’re not going to get a conviction.”

In answering Werner’s final question regarding power grabs by the executive branch, Dodd said “it hasn’t just been Republican presidents.”

“Too often we’ve allowed the executive branch to undermine legislative authority and to exceed executive authority,” he said. “The latest effort of this are these so-called ’signing statements’ … you can sign it or veto it, but the idea that a president is going to all of the sudden describe what the Congress did in a signing statement is way beyond anything included in the Constitution of the United States. There will be no signing statements in a Dodd administration. I promise you that.”

Werner, who posed a similar question to New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and didn’t feel he received an answer, said he was pleased that Dodd took the time to fully answer his question, but he didn’t agree with what the candidate had to say.

“George Bush and Dick Cheney have broken countless laws in their pursuit of getting more power — whether it is wire-tapping, extraordinary rendition, sending our troops into an illegal war,” he said following the event. “I mean, basically, those guys are war criminals. If we are not willing to impeach these guys, that means that the next president that comes in, he’s able to say, ‘Well, if Bush and Cheney did it, it must be okay.’ That’s because we’ve condoned it. If we don’t hold these guys accountable for the crimes they’ve committed, what does it say?”

Such high standards, Werner said, makes his decision on caucus night difficult.

“You know, I love [Ohio Congressman Dennis] Kucinich, but he has just no chance of winning,” Werner said. “I know that’s a bad thing for me to say, but he just has no chance in the world of actually winning the national election. They would tear him to pieces. [Former Alaska Sen.] Mike Gravel says a lot of wacky things, but sometimes I like what he says. I like [Illinois Sen. Barack] Obama because he, I think, is so smart and he appears to be able to bring people together in a way that I don’t think [New York Sen.] Hillary [Rodham Clinton] could or in a way that [former North Carolina Sen. John] Edwards could. I was very impressed with Dodd.”

Dodd opened his public remarks by reciting a quotation that’s been attributed to Ben Franklin: “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Werner said he sees little difference between what that quotation represents and the question he asked.

“If we are willing to sacrifice the rule of law so that we can be elected,” he said, “how is that any different than what Ben Franklin warned against? If my child does something wrong, I expect them to be held accountable. I don’t expect to delay it until a more convenient time. …When the police see someone commit a crime, they don’t say, ‘Well, I’m not going to arrest you now. I’m going to do it a more convenient time.’ That just isn’t done.”