While Congress slept LA Times

[jbfam4]

EDITORIALS
While Congress slept

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-congress8jan08,0,4624462.story?coll=la-home-oped



It remains to be seen whether the spymasters were merely overzealous in their efforts to track international terrorists or deliberately snooped on Americans. Congressional hearings on the NSA affair may answer that question. What is alarmingly clear, however, is that President Bush has consistently overreached in his claim to expanded powers as commander in chief during wartime. It is up to Congress to restrain those powers. His duty to protect the nation does not place him above the law.



The most quoted part of the memo is its definition of torture as only the extreme standard of pain accompanying "serious physical injury such as death or organ failure." The much scarier part comes a dozen pages earlier, with this assertion of unfettered presidential wartime power: "In light of the president's complete authority over the conduct of war, without a clear statement otherwise, we will not read a criminal statute as infringing on the president's ultimate authority in these areas." Translation: Fighting a war is more important than obeying the law. If a law interferes with our strategy, we can ignore it.

Was Bush chastened by the political repudiation of a 90-9 vote in the Senate in favor of Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain's amendment banning torture? Not in the least. When he signed the law, Bush announced that "the executive branch shall construe in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the president … as commander in chief" to further the goal "of protecting the American people from further terrorist attacks." Translation: We can override this law whenever necessary.

Congress also stood by when the administration overreached with its novel definition of enemy combatants, who are not entitled to challenge their own detention. Congress could have intervened, but instead the courts have had to sort out the mess. Even after the bipartisan outrage that greeted the NSA spying, the only official protest Congress could muster was a short delay in the renewal of the Patriot Act.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. Rip Van American is waking up.

finally.

[acmavm]

2. Congress wasn't asleep. The republican majority was too busy sticking

thier hands out for dirty money and the dems were too busy covering their asses trying not to make waves and piss off their corporate donors.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

3. Once a criminal always a criminal??? Unless of course you are

privileged enough to endure the kindness of the American prison system: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8451.htm

Or if you are a selected pResident and then the law doesn't apply:

Nixon's Views on Presidential Power:
Excerpts from an Interview with David Frost
http://www.landmarkcases.org/nixon/nixonview.html

[Jane Austin]

4. I think we should call this what it is - - a coup.

n/t

[Spinzonner]

5. Some reporter needs to ask him

What exactly is EXCLUDED from his assumption and assertions of Presidential War Powers.