Senate to hold hearings on Bush's willful lawbreaking

From The Boston Globe's Charlie Savage, who once more is all over this important story:

The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, accusing the White House of a ''very blatant encroachment" on congressional authority, said yesterday he will hold an oversight hearing into President Bush's assertion that he has the power to bypass more than 750 laws enacted over the past five years.

''There is some need for some oversight by Congress to assert its authority here," Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania, said in an interview. ''What's the point of having a statute if... the president can cherry-pick what he likes and what he doesn't like?"

That's a very good question, Senator. Thanks for asking it. Bush's willful lawbreaking, which I recently addressed here, has been one of the most dangerous and damaging elements of his disastrous presidency. It needs to be exposed for what it is. I just hope Specter is more serious about this than he seems to be about cutting off funding for Bush's domestic wiretapping (which our co-blogger Creature addressed here).

Let's call it George W. Bush v. The Constitution of the United States of America.

It's time to take sides.