Rove to Democrats: It’s Time for Recess!

Schoolyard bully-cum-President George W. Bush always liked recess. In school, recess was the time to recover from the constant droning by teachers about liberal activist topics like biology, chemistry, and physics. It was also the time when he could put his real talents to good use: he could corral like-minded folk and bully the rest of the class by utilizing the time-tested tools of intimidation, fear, and tests of loyalty.

I'm sure you remember the schoolyard bully in grade school. Well, now he's President. And, in case it wasn't clear to everyone, he's still playing the schoolyard bully role in his current job. But instead of hiding behind teachers that turned the other cheek because his daddy was an Important Person, he now hides behind a gang of talk show and new media activists that provide him cover.

And here we are, once again, observing our Bully-in-Chief utilizing his favorite period: recess. By using congressional recess as a loophole strategy to appoint people to key positions in government -- positions designed to be approved by our democratically elected representatives -- he is once again playing schoolyard bully during recess.

Sure, most presidents use recess appointments strategically. To say that Bush is alone here is unfair. But what is very clear is that, as usual, Bush is taking an established precedent and blowing the doors off of it and magnifying his vision of consolidated executive power.

George W. Bush appointed John Bolton during recess because he could not get his pick past America's representatives in a high-profile set of hearings. So, in essence, "W." decided that Americans were wrong, and went around us to put the guy he wanted in the post anyway.

Is this "Democracy on the March?" No. It's the schoolyard bully during recess.