Interview with Dan Fejes from Pruning Shears

Dan Fejes writes the blog, Pruning Shears. As far as my lengthy and exhaustive research on the subject has found, it’s the only blog entirely dedicated to the issue of executive power, one of the most important issue in the upcoming election. Here’s what he had to say:

How did your blog get started and what motivated you to do it?

The site was started by Mark Allender last July. (In the change of ownership from Mark to me all the posts are now posted under my name, but my first post was actually this one.) He wanted to make executive power a part of the election and even planned to contact candidates and their representatives over it. He’s got more media experience than me and his plan was to get in touch with them by pretty much any means. My involvement started when Bush commuted Libby’s sentence. For some reason I still remember watching the report as it came across the TV (it seems to be fairly minor for an “I remember where I was when…” moment). My accumulated frustration and anger with the administration seemed to reach a tipping point and it became very important to start getting involved in some way. I signed on to host a Move On antiwar rally (me and the boys at a different rally here – picture 3 of the slide show) shortly thereafter and that’s how I met Mark. I asked about becoming a contributor and he agreed.

How important do you think the issue of executive power is in the upcoming election?

I think executive power is one of the issues that should be front and center. I’m OK with other issues taking precedence because I know that issues like war, health care and a troubled economy are much more immediate concerns to a lot of people. On the other hand I get very frustrated when polling, campaign math and horse race speculation take center stage. When I see topics like those that I consider largely content-free sucking the oxygen out of the room I get very frustrated.

To what extent do you think it’s being ignored?

It’s ignored almost completely. I think this Joe Klein post on FISA may be remembered as the prototypical example of an ignorant and apathetic Beltway analyst dismissing a vitally important issue. “I have neither the time nor legal background to figure out who’s right” deserves to be immortalized – maybe it should be emblazoned across the entrance of every school of journalism in the country as a cautionary message about the dangers of complacency. Maybe it already is immortalized. In any event there seems to be a great reluctance among the major media players to confront those in power. The fact that it’s easier to think of exceptions like Charlie Savage and Helen Thomas tells you how uncommon that ethic has become. I think there’s a huge amount of laziness too; it’s easier to speculate about the latest from Rasmussen than to comb through a bill or legal opinion. And unfortunately if these folks ignore it, it’s extremely hard to break through to a mass audience.

What is the best way for people to raise awareness?

Continuing the last point, keep agitating. I post every week and try to get the word out; I post comments when I can and link to coverage; I make phone calls and send faxes when big votes come up. Basically I try to find like-minded people and keep in touch with them, and make what noise I can with representatives. I’ve also kicked in money at different times and in different ways: A couple times to Chris Dodd when he was showing leadership on FISA, once to the Blue America fund established to take out ads against wavering Democrats before the recent House vote, that sort of thing.

How likely do you think it is that the next president will choose to roll back executive power?

Almost certainly not, which is why it’s so important right now to get them on record for as much of it as we can. I believe John McCain’s pledge to never use signing statements is the only example among those left of a firm commitment. These folks are going to have new powers left to them and it’s human nature to hang on to power, precedents and prerogatives (alliteration!) where possible. They won’t choose to forswear them, though they’ll probably say they intend not to. That’s why it’s so important to get them on record right now when they are competing for our votes. I’d really like for us to be able to use this time to play each against the others to compete for the title of Most Civil Liberties-Friendly.