Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying

This a followup to my previous post on the imminent execution of Mirza Tahir Hussain. I just read this on The Times of London web site:

President Musharraf of Pakistan has postponed indefinitely the execution of Mirza Tahir Hussain, 36, a British-Pakistani. He has spent 18 years in prison, despite being acquitted by the High Court a decade ago, and was to be executed on June 1. “The President has postponed the execution on compassionate grounds to allow Mr Hussain’s family to negotiate with the family of the victim,” an official said. Meanwhile, a court sentenced four men to death and three others to life in prison for a suicide attack on Shaukat Aziz, the Prime Minister, in 2004. [Emphasis added by me.]

This is the only report I have found so far. I am looking to get confirmation from other sources and will post as soon as I find out.

However, if this report is accurate, this is great news indeed.

UPDATE (May 23, 2006 6:26 PM): The BBC is also reporting that Mr. Hussain’s execution has been stayed:

A Leeds man on death row in Pakistan has been spared after the president called off next week’s execution.

…

The Pakistan High Commission in London said Hussain had been granted an indefinite stay of execution on Monday.

Under Islamic law, the families of the dead taxi driver and Hussain must reach agreement on how the case is to be settled, usually by some form of compensation.

Speaking from Islamabad on Tuesday, Hussain’s brother Amjad told the BBC: "The Pakistan High Commissioner phoned me last night to tell me we have an indefinite stay of execution."

 UPDATE (May 24, 2006 10:15 AM): AFP,  Reuters and The Times of London are now reporting that the stay of execution is only for a month.  According to the AFP report:

The president has granted a one-month extension on the application of the family," foreign office spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam told AFP. It will take effect from June 1, when an earlier month-long stay of execution was due to run out.

"This is basically if the victim’s family and the accused can work out something during that period," she said.

But Amjad Hussain told the BBC that the Pakistan High Commissioner telephoned him on Monday night to say that Mirza had received an "indefinite" postponement of the death sentence.

"This is great news, but it is only a step in the right direction," he was quoted as saying. "It is not the end of the road because I will not give up this campaign until my brother is freed and allowed to come back to his family in England."

A spokesman for the Pakistani High Commission in London also said earlier that the postponement was indefinite.

Yesterday I read the news that the FBI has videotape of Congressman William Jefferson (D- La.) taking bribes. I am sure you will agree with me that taking bribes is probably not the smartest or most legal thing for a Congressman to do. This morning I wake up to the news that members of Congress from both parties are furious, absolutely furious, over this latest bribery scandal.

I was getting ready to write Congress to thank them for their newfound zero tolerance policy toward criminal behavior until I actually read a little more about why Congress is so upset. Apparently Congress is upset that the FBI raided the Congressional offices of Representative Jefferson. Apparently the Executive branch has overreached and is challenging the separation of powers laid out in the Constitution. Lions, Tiger, and Bears, Oh My!

Congressmen and Senators are tripping over each other to get to the microphone and denounce the Bush Administration for endangering the Constitution.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert is outraged and ready to wrestle:

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) expressed alarm at the raid. "The actions of the Justice Department in seeking and executing this warrant raise important Constitutional issues that go well beyond the specifics of this case," he said in a lengthy statement released last night.

"Insofar as I am aware, since the founding of our Republic 219 years ago, the Justice Department has never found it necessary to do what it did Saturday night, crossing this Separation of Powers line, in order to successfully prosecute corruption by Members of Congress," he said. "Nothing I have learned in the last 48 hours leads me to believe that there was any necessity to change the precedent established over those 219 years."

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist wants an investigation:

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said that he is "very concerned" about the incident and that Senate and House counsels will review it.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was a little less outraged and more circumspect:

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement that "members of Congress must obey the law and cooperate fully with any criminal investigation" but that "Justice Department investigations must be conducted in accordance with Constitutional protections and historical precedent."

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich however saw the end of the Republic:

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), in an e-mail to colleagues with the subject line "on the edge of a constitutional confrontation," called the Saturday night raid "the most blatant violation of the Constitutional Separation of Powers in my lifetime." He urged President Bush to discipline or fire "whoever exhibited this extraordinary violation."

Why are Republicans so outraged about the President of the United States overstepping his Constitutional bounds? Shouldn’t they be jumping up and down and rejoicing that finally a Democrat has literally been caught red handed? Perhaps they fear the Police State is now about to turn on them?

Where were these same Republicans when this Administration played games with the 1st, 4th and 5th Amendments of the Constitution? Where were these same Republicans when this Administration wildly abused the President’s Article II powers? Where were these Republicans when this Administration asserted its right to violate the Constitutional protections of American citizens?

Could it be that the Unitary Executive does not taste nearly as sweet when it hits close to home? Perhaps the members of Congress are now a little concerned that the Executive branch might be tapping their phones or reading their email. It is a joke that these Republicans are now screaming about the Constitution when they have remained silent for so long as it has been trampled in the name of National Security.

I say to Senator Frist, Speaker Hastert and the rest of the Constitutionally challenged Republicans that the entire Constitution matters - not just the part that protects Congress from the Executive branch. Outrage about the "speech or debate" clause of the Constitution should be equally matched by outrage about the tearing down of the Bill of Rights. If Congress wants the American people to defend their Congress then Congress needs to do its job of defending the American people. Otherwise go whine about this in your Cloakrooms and at the House Gymnasium.