Today’s ruling by a Federal judges that the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping of Americans is unconstitutional give hope to those who believe that the powers of the President are not unlimited, but that even the President, ESPECIALLY the President, is subject to the rule of law.
Federal Judge Orders Halt to NSA Wiretapping
The Washington Post, 8/17/06
Justice on a Short Leash
Why did the president cut off investigation of the NSA’s domestic surveillance program?
The Washington Post, 7/22/06
Because he thinks he’s above the Constitution, that’s why.
UPDATE: Like I said…
If the president has constitutional problems with a bill, the task force said, he should convey those concerns to Congress before it reaches his desk. The panel said signing statements should not be a substitute for vetoing bills the president considers unconstitutional.
“The President’s constitutional duty is to enforce laws he has signed into being unless and until they are held unconstitutional by the Supreme Court or a subordinate tribunal,” panel members wrote. “The Constitution is not what the President says it is.”
Bush’s Tactic of Refusing Laws Is Probed
The Washington Post, 7/24/06
America comes to this realization too late to spare us this second term we’re currently suffering through. But perhaps in time to strike some balance by taking away Bush’s lapdog Republican Congress… we have to remain hopeful. Failing that, all that will remain is the cleanup of his mess, and the bad memory of the Bush era.
Bush Tops List As U.S. Voters Name Worst PresidentQuinnipiac University, 6/1/06
(Via Think Progress.)
Opening Day: The Making of a Presidential Photo-Op: “
This afternoon, President Bush was on hand to throw out the first pitch in Cincinnati as the hometown Reds took on the visiting Chicago Cubs. Before the game, President Bush had an encounter with Cubs manager Dusty Baker that was described by Michael Fletcher of the Washington Post in the White House pool report:
He greeted Cubs manager Dusty Baker with a handshake. ‘This is the year, right?’ Bush said, in what some in the pool thought as sarcasm directed at the team’s perennial pennant futility.
‘Dusty Baker, good to know you,’ POTUS continued, turning to the cameras. He held the grip and grinned as the cameras snapped away. ‘Smile,’ POTUS encouraged, and Baker complied, saying: ‘I’ll do what I got to do.’
And with a little cajoling, Bush got the photo-op he wanted:
“
Last week I was invited to speak at the Internet Advocacy Roundtable on the subject of Congress and the Internet. In gathering my thoughts, and preparing for that presentation, I perused the deep and dusty corners of my hard drive to review presentations I’ve given on the topic in the past. In doing so, I came across a collection of screenshots I had grabbed and used previously, many of them now already a decade or more old. For me, looking through them was like looking at old photos in a family album, with each bringing back memories from way back in the day. So I thought I’d throw them all up on my Flickr account, and share a little Congressional web history there.
Last Friday the New York Times broke the story that the Bush Administration has been eavesdropping on Americans without a warrant since shortly after 9/11/2001.
The Times had delayed reporting the story for a year, at the request of the Administration which claimed that disclosure of the news would be harmful to national security. More likely, such disclosure would have been harmful to President Bush’s re-election prospects. In early December of 2005, Bush summoned the editor and published of the Times to the Oval Office, to again attempt to halt the story
Has Bush’s arrogance and disregard for the Constitution finally gone too far? Calls for an immediate investigation of Bush’s warrant-less wiretapping are coming from Democrats and Republicans alike in Congress.
9/11 was a tragic day. But to George Bush and Dick Cheney, it was their golden ticket to justify any action, defend any failure, and disregard any law. The horrible losses of that day have been amplified to incalculable levels in further loss of life and the tearing down of America by these men who claim to be defending it.
The most impressive thing really is how quickly and firmly he has established his hold on this position. It would have been the case already with a single term, but it’s a distinction he’ll hold for the ages after two.
IS GEORGE BUSH THE WORST PRESIDENT — EVER?
by Richard Reeves
Here’s a very interesting read from today’s Washington Post that gets past the surface level of the debate about Torture and whether it’s something that the United States does or doesn’t do. The article describes the underlying laws and conventions that specify how prisoners of war are to be treated, and the legalistic dance the Bush administration uses to backup Bush’s claim that “we don’t torture” while at the same time using techniques that if used against Americans, all would surely agree is torture. It’s a shameful example of one of the many ways that George Bush has diminished America.
Torture, American-Style
The Washington Post, 11/27/05
Bush has the Floor
Originally uploaded by Indignico.
I found these great photos submitted to the Flickr group I created for campaign-related photos. So many choices! Ashcroft, Bush, Cheney, Zell, Bush and Elvis! Which would you choose? Hard to imagine much of a market for these in Tijuana.
And how about some Democrats? Maybe ours would be on Blue Velvet 🙂I’m not sure exactly when Election Day became one of my favorites on the calendar. Obviously, the fact that I work in politics has much to do with it. Election Day is the culmination of a candidate’s and a party’s efforts to make their case. It is the day when the voters make their choice. It’s what our Democracy is all about.
There is much that is wrong with Election Days in our country. The 2000 Election revealed the dirty secret that America’s elections aren’t as smooth running and legitimate as we’d like to believe. Negative campaigning, low voter turnouts, and lack of real choices are all problems with our system. But they can be fixed.
At the end of the day, the dust will settle and we’ll have some results. But first, go vote. Vote Democrat, Vote Republican, vote for the person rather than the party, vote however you choose, but just vote. It matters and it counts.
