To the editor:

Ari Fleischer speaks a day after yet another applause-ridden spectacle known as the State of the Union Address (what, it’s strong, isn’t it?), this time to assure us that the General Accounting Office is acting without precedent in pursuing a lawsuit against the administration regarding records not released as required by law pertaining to who and what were present and discussed at an energy forum headed by Vice President Cheney.

The Enron affair is well known as the largest bankruptcy case in America’s history, and most Americans seek to understand the scope of that company’s greed, whether or not it tainted the administration. For the president’s spokesman to go on record defending his boss’s position as charitable to future presidents when just a few months ago the present commander in chief refused to release notes from his father’s term not only reeks of guilt, but also undermines the basic tenets of a democracy.

To be honest, I don’t give a damn if the GAO is under precedent or not. Most court cases that matter have no precedence by which to be judged, and whatever spin the White House wishes to pursue, I lobbied with my vote, and damn precedence, the president is accountable to me.

W, I want those briefs. I can’t offer or withhold millions in lobbying funds or campaign contributions, but that’s really the point of all this, isn’t it?

John Hennessy,

Lawrence