With a standoff between President Bush and Congress growing, July became a banner month of executive-privilege stonewalling.

Executive privilege, the executive branch’s understood right to retain certain sensitive information, is based on our government’s separation of powers, a means of preventing any one branch of government – executive, legislative or judicial – from having too much sway.

However, Bush’s steady, stubborn invocation of this privilege has largely upset the balance, allowing his administration the right to hinder legislative and judicial processes.

The most recent example is the case of U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and the controversial firings of eight U.S. attorneys.

On July 1, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, said he would be “ready to go to court” if Bush and Co. denied subpoenas issued for information on the firings.

A little more than a week later, Bush – you guessed it – denied Congress’ subpoena for testimony by Harriet Miers, former White House Counsel, on the firings.

This tug-of-war between Congress and the Bush administration came to frustrating head last week with allegations of perjury, aimed at Gonzales himself.

These allegations came after FBI Director Robert Mueller’s sworn testimony contradicted Gonzales’ own, regarding the subject of a hospital-bedside meeting in 2004 between Gonzales and then-U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.

But why should it matter? For the average person, the details of testimony that don’t add up, or the firings of a mere handful of people may seem easy enough to ignore.

What’s at risk, however, is the future of our government. The opacity of the White House is staggering, and, should the Bush administration continue down its current course of executive-privilege obstruction, a disturbing precedent will be set.

It will be a precedent of secrecy, demonstrating that any president – Republican or Democratic – can impede Congress, keeping the truth from voters.

Certainly, there are cases when sensitive information must be kept from the general public for reasons of national security, and, when executive privilege can be used appropriately.

But when it becomes an act of self-interest, using executive privilege for little more than cronyism, Bush is showing the public what little concern he has for legislative processes.

Of course, with just more than a year left in office and dismal approval ratings, Bush has little left to lose.