"Priviledged Character?"

I am the first born son of six children; in an Italian household, this is a little special. My Grandmother, Nona, did her very best to spoil me with cookies, candy and affection. When we had family dinners, I always sat at my Father’s right hand, the traditional place for the first son. I had my favorite meals; hamburgers, pizza, eggplant parmigianna, roast beef and I even had a favorite pasta sauce, pasta pomod’oro, sometimes called “depression pasta”, as it was very economical to make and required no meat. My mother knew how much I liked this sauce, and at times, when she made pasta, she would make her marinara sauce and she would also make a separate pan of my favorite sauce just for me; I was a “privileged character”. My Dad would even make a comment or two about Mom’s special treatment in the kitchen. Sometimes it is good to be the first born! I was definitely a “privileged character”.

There are other people who we sometimes call “privileged characters”; those people who get preferred seating at restaurants or the theatre, or those who don’t have to wait in line while us “common folks” stand patiently. Athletes, entertainers, politicians and even some famous “gangsters” (Al Capone) are given special treatment in certain situations. You usually don’t see the mayor sitting in the “cheap seats” at a baseball game, even if he shows up late!

Earlier this week, we have heard the term “executive privilege” used in regard to the Congressional Investigation of Eric Holder’s involvement in the “Fast and Furious” scandal.

It seems the Obama White House is going to use this policy to try to block the Congressional Committee from receiving certain documents in their investigation of the questions surrounding Mr. Holder’s knowledge about this incident; you know, “what he knew, and when he knew it” questions.

Presidential Executive Privilege is supposed to be used in cases of national security, where information could compromise any security issues, both foreign and domestic, if revealed to the general public. There are legitimate uses of “Executive Privilege” and it has been used since the time of George Washington, who used it once. Many Presidents have used this since the time of George Washington; G.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, H.W. Bush, and Richard M. Nixon all used executive privilege at times during their respective administrations; sometimes it was allowed, and sometimes it wasn’t. Reagan, G.W. Bush and H.W. Bush all had this policy rejected during their terms in office. The most famous rejection of this policy was, of course ,Richard M. Nixon’s use during the Watergate scandal. Mr. Nixon tried to use this power to “cover up” a criminal act from members of the White House Staff by hiding information from the American people. This privilege has the “proviso” that it can only apply to something that applies directly to knowledge by the President to the information that is requested, if the President makes the request.

During the Watergate scandal, this action was used to cover-up a “minor league” break-in for political purposes. “Fast and Furious” has the potential of being connected to the homicides of several people, including that of Officer Brian Terry, who was murdered by this program’s smuggled weapons. Murder is quite a bit more than a “small time burglary”, and must be investigated, no matter where it takes the investigation!

Now we have President Barack Obama involved in the pursuit of this investigation through his actions. We must question why he is trying to hamper a Congressional Investigation of such an important nature! Is there an involvement of the Chief Executive of the United States of America in a possible felony of the highest type? Is this another “cover-up” similar to Watergate? Mr. Obama, what did you know, and when did you know it?! Are you a “privileged character”? It seems that Brian Terry wasn’t privileged, was he?