You Still Think This Is A Democracy?
Charlie Savage of the Boston Globe just won a Pulitzer for proving it’s not.
Here’s the scoop: Congress or the Supreme Court decides what’s Constitutional. Then Bush comes around quietly with his executive signing statements, abrogating the sole power of deciding what’s Constitutional, and does whatever he damn well pleases.
President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution.
Among the laws Bush said he can ignore are military rules and regulations, affirmative-action provisions, requirements that Congress be told about immigration services problems, ”whistle-blower” protections for nuclear regulatory officials, and safeguards against political interference in federally funded research.
Legal scholars say the scope and aggression of Bush’s assertions that he can bypass laws represent a concerted effort to expand his power at the expense of Congress, upsetting the balance between the branches of government. The Constitution is clear in assigning to Congress the power to write the laws and to the president a duty ”to take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” Bush, however, has repeatedly declared that he does not need to ”execute” a law he believes is unconstitutional. (Boston Globe)
Those making excuses for Bush point out that this sort of thing originated with Edwin Meese back in the Reagan years. We all remember how well THAT turned out for everyone but the rich. And Bush is going light-years beyond anything Reagan ever dreamed of.
Should you care about this? Yes, my dear, you should. A President who does not see himself as bound by the law of the land, by Congress and the Supreme Court?
The word for that is dictator, not President of the United States.
And that’s all there is to it.
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