A Nation of Laws -- Or Not

Well, as usual, the Felon-in-Chief is flaunting his total disregard for the law once more. The lateset was in a signing statement for the  PATRIOT Act. Via Andrew Sullivan by way of Talking Points Memo:

When President Bush signed the reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act this month, he included an addendum saying that he did not feel obliged to obey requirements that he inform Congress about how the FBI was using the act's expanded police powers.

The bill contained several oversight provisions intended to make sure the FBI did not abuse the special terrorism-related powers to search homes and secretly seize papers. The provisions require Justice Department officials to keep closer track of how often the FBI uses the new powers and in what type of situations. Under the law, the administration would have to provide the information to Congress by certain dates.

Bush signed the bill with fanfare at a White House ceremony March 9, calling it ''a piece of legislation that's vital to win the war on terror and to protect the American people." But after the reporters and guests had left, the White House quietly issued a ''signing statement," an official document in which a president lays out his interpretation of a new law.

In the statement, Bush said that he did not consider himself bound to tell Congress how the Patriot Act powers were being used and that, despite the law's requirements, he could withhold the information if he decided that disclosure would ''impair foreign relations, national security, the deliberative process of the executive, or the performance of the executive's constitutional duties."

Bush wrote: ''The executive branch shall construe the provisions . . . that call for furnishing information to entities outside the executive branch . . . in a manner consistent with the president's constitutional authority to supervise the unitary executive branch and to withhold information . . . "

The statement represented the latest in a string of high-profile instances in which Bush has cited his constitutional authority to bypass a law.

By now I'm sure you know what I'm going to say: Im. Peach. Him!

Comments

[Robert N. Emerson]

Personally, I'd like to know which of his advisers are telling him that this is all above board, I mean, seriously, they must be some charismatic mo-fos.

"Yeah, Dub, it's all good," smiles the smarmy adviser. "It's a constitutional power for the POTUS to override the checks and balance system. Really. It's a glas is half-full sorta thing."

Feh! I sorta remember when a lot of his views were more moderate, it was around the time him and McCain got along better, but that's been awhile.

Robert