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Sunday, July 22, 2007 |
HuffingtonPost: "George Bush's White House has leaked a story (anonymously, of course) to the Washington Post which is truly stunning, and which should concern any citizen who values checks and balances in American government. They are asserting that Emperor Bush has a power usually thought of as 'imperial' or 'monarchical' - the power to do anything he wants, then define it as 'Executive Privilege', and thereby completely ignore Congress and the Judicial Branch.
'Bush administration officials unveiled a bold new assertion of executive authority yesterday in the dispute over the firing of nine U.S. attorneys, saying that the Justice Department will never be allowed to pursue contempt charges initiated by Congress against White House officials once the president has invoked executive privilege.'
Got that? The Justice Department (i.e., the U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C.) will never be allowed to pursue contempt charges against anyone Congress tells them to. This is an astonishing overreach on many levels. Once they wave the supposed magic wand of 'executive privilege', then nobody can ever be held in contempt of Congress ever again, because contempt of Congress is a federal crime which must be prosecuted by (supposedly) independent federal prosecutors.
They are basing this not on a Supreme Court decision - or even on any legal judicial precedent at all - merely on what some Reagan-era lawyer at the Department of Justice thought sounded good back in the '80s, which (by the way) was never resolved by a judge. 'It has long been understood' (by them) that they are right, and therefore everyone else is powerless to argue.
There's only one problem with this rosy legal scenario: They're wrong. Nixon found that out a long time ago, which is why his tapes are public property now - freely available to any who want to listen to him use racial slurs and curse like a sailor. And that is backed up by a Supreme Court decision."
Slashdot: "Tuesday, there wasn't even a fuss. Wednesday, the world was a little different. By executive order, the Secretary of the Treasury may now seize the property of any person who undermines efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq. The Secretary may make his determination in secret and after the fact."
Guardian: "President Bush unveiled an executive order that allows the administration to block bank accounts and any other financial assets that might be found in this country belonging to people, companies or groups that the United States deems are working to threaten stability in Iraq."
The executive order.
RawStory: "President George W. Bush issued an executive order Friday to ban the cruel and unusual treatment of detainees caught in the course of the Global War on Terrorism-related operations. Two human rights groups heavily criticized the order hours after its release.
But human rights groups said Bush's order would allow illegal interrogations of terrorism-related detainees to continue.
'The Order fails to make clear whether interrogation techniques that had been authorized for use in the CIA program are still permitted,' said Elisa Massimino, the Washington Director of Human Rights First. 'If the Order is interpreted by the CIA as authorization to use techniques such as waterboarding, stress positions, hypothermia, sensory deprivation, sleep deprivation and isolation, it sends a powerful - and dangerous - message to the United States' current and future enemies: that this country believes these techniques can lawfully be used against our own troops without violating Common Article 3 [of the Geneva Conventions]."
The similarities between Bush and Hitler are growing.
It is a crying shame for the American democracy that nothing has been done so far to depose the usurper who is breaking down the American Constitution.
10:39:45 AM 
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© Copyright 2007 Hetty Litjens.
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