by Jim Hightower & r & & r & BANNING TORTURE (SORT OF) & r & Eeeeeeeew... the stench coming out of the White House is more nauseating than usual. For months, BushCheney and Gang had fought tenaciously to kill Sen. John McCain's bill that would officially outlaw the U.S. government's use of torture against prisoners of war. The Bushites lobbied, tried end runs, tried to cajole McCain into at least exempting the CIA from the torture ban, and even threatened to veto the bill ... but McCain wouldn't cave in. Finally, after both houses of Congress passed the ban by veto-proof majorities, Bush called in McCain just before Christmas, embraced him and the bill, and said he would sign it. It was a nice, fuzzy, political moment.
But you'd sooner trust your last pork chop with a coyote than trust the conniving Bushites. With Congress adjourned for the holidays, and with most of the media absent as well, George W. did sign the bill on Dec. 30. But, verrrrry quietly, he also issued a "signing statement." This is an official document in which a president can offer his own interpretation of what a new law means. Bush's stinker of a signing statement declares that he will construe the law as binding except in cases where he thinks it conflicts "with the constitutional authority of the President ... as Commander-in-Chief."
In other words, by executive fiat, Bush is trying to gouge a massive loophole in a bill that was meant by Congress to close all loopholes. He's saying that he still has the inherent power to authorize torturing people whenever he sees fits -- Congress, John McCain and plain morality be damned.
What we have here is yet another attempt by the arrogant, autocratic Bushites to place themselves above the rule of the law. The founders, in their wisdom, provided for three co-equal branches of government and a system of checks and balances precisely to prevent such dangerous efforts by a president to establish a supreme executive.
& lt;i & For more nuggets of wisdom from America's No. 1 populist, check out & lt;a href="http://www.jimhightower.com" & his website & lt;/a & & lt;/i & .
But you'd sooner trust your last pork chop with a coyote than trust the conniving Bushites. With Congress adjourned for the holidays, and with most of the media absent as well, George W. did sign the bill on Dec. 30. But, verrrrry quietly, he also issued a "signing statement." This is an official document in which a president can offer his own interpretation of what a new law means. Bush's stinker of a signing statement declares that he will construe the law as binding except in cases where he thinks it conflicts "with the constitutional authority of the President ... as Commander-in-Chief."
In other words, by executive fiat, Bush is trying to gouge a massive loophole in a bill that was meant by Congress to close all loopholes. He's saying that he still has the inherent power to authorize torturing people whenever he sees fits -- Congress, John McCain and plain morality be damned.
What we have here is yet another attempt by the arrogant, autocratic Bushites to place themselves above the rule of the law. The founders, in their wisdom, provided for three co-equal branches of government and a system of checks and balances precisely to prevent such dangerous efforts by a president to establish a supreme executive.
& lt;i & For more nuggets of wisdom from America's No. 1 populist, check out & lt;a href="http://www.jimhightower.com" & his website & lt;/a & & lt;/i & .
