"A president who knowingly and deliberately violates U.S. criminal laws..."

[omega minimo]

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/092706J.shtml



    Bush Seeks Retroactive Immunity for Violating War Crimes Act
    By Elizabeth Holtzman
    The Chicago Sun-Times - Saturday 23 September 2006

    Thirty-two years ago, President Gerald Ford created a political firestorm by pardoning former President Richard Nixon of all crimes he may have committed in Watergate - and lost his election as a result. Now, President Bush, to avoid a similar public outcry, is quietly trying to pardon himself of any crimes connected with the torture and mistreatment of U.S. detainees.

    The "pardon" is buried in Bush's proposed legislation to create a new kind of military tribunal for cases involving top al-Qaida operatives. The "pardon" provision has nothing to do with the tribunals. Instead, it guts the War Crimes Act of 1996, a federal law that makes it a crime, in some cases punishable by death, to mistreat detainees in violation of the Geneva Conventions and makes the new, weaker terms of the War Crimes Act retroactive to 9/11. Press accounts of the provision have described it as providing immunity for CIA interrogators. But its terms cover the president and other top officials because the act applies to any U.S. national.

<>

    Creating immunity retroactively for violating the law sets a terrible precedent. The president takes an oath of office to uphold the Constitution; that document requires him to obey the laws, not violate them. A president who knowingly and deliberately violates U.S. criminal laws should not be able to use stealth tactics to immunize himself from liability, and Congress should not go along.

     --------

    Elizabeth Holtzman, a former New York congresswoman, is co-author with Cynthia L. Cooper of The Impeachment of George W. Bush: A Practical Guide for Concerned Citizens.

[Eric J in MN]

1. The "Military Commissions Act" passed.

Bush got immunity for his war crimes.

[katsy]

2. To this day...

I just can't wrap my head around that one.

Has or will there be a legal challenge to that?

How can that travesty of legislation be undone?

[Eric J in MN]

5. Even if Congress passes a repeal bill, Bush can veto.

We're going to need to put a Democrat in the White House to undo the Military Commissions Act, while keeping the House and Senate.

[katsy]

6. What about the courts?

Or are they stacked republican?

[Eric J in MN]

8. The Supreme Court may say that ...

...non-citizens arrested within the US need to be given habeas corpus hearings.

I'm not optimistic that the Supreme Court will strike down anything else in the "Military Commissions Act."

[katsy]

9. Thanks Eric. nt

I was afraid of that fact.

[omega minimo]

11. Do you foresee the Unitary Executive staying in office?

[Eric J in MN]

12. Are you asking if Bush will be impeached, or...

...if the Unitary Executive notion will extend to the next president?

[omega minimo]

15. Yes

[Eric J in MN]

16. Unlikely.

Nancy Pelosi seems to be against impeachment, and she's the Speaker of the House.

The House determines impeachment.

[omega minimo]

17. Are your posts always cryptic and simplistic?

[Eric J in MN]

18. I'm not trying to be cryptic. I'm saying that it's unlikely that ...

...Bush will be impeached, because Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi said, "Impeachment is off the table."

[omega minimo]

7. You're going to need to impeach Bushco

[durtee librul]

3. Laws can be

repealed.....and I don't think OUR laws will protect him if he leaves this country's soil after office. I could be wrong, but I think any other country which apprehended him would be lauded for doing so.

[omega minimo]

4. Ford died. Impeachment is on the table. Saddam hanged. Congress convenes.

Colonel Mustard in the Parlor with a Candlestick.

[omega minimo]

10. "A president who knowingly and deliberately violates U.S. criminal laws..."

[TankLV]

13. It is patently against the law/constitution/etc. to RETROACTIVELY apply anything

especially to things that were CRIMES.

This will be overturned, because it is CLEARLY unconstitutional.

WHEN this will happen, is anyone's guess - but it WILL happen.

[Disturbed]

14. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)

“Secondly, there are such things as roving wiretaps. Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so. It's important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution.” GW Bush April 2004

At the time of this statement GW Bush was authorizing the spying on American citizens and their communications by the National Security Agency and other U.S. police and intelligence agencies, in violation of the First and Fourth Amendments and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

[Generic Brad]

19. I know when it will happen

When we have a Democratic president.