Nothing But Love :: golf blogger

The Horror, the Horror ...

"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 ..." -- Bush Signing Statement to reauthorization of the USA PATRIOT Act.

Well, now we know what King George meant by that. He meant that although the law requires him to oversee the FBI when it issues National Security Letters, which are demands by individual agents for records that do not require a judge or magistrate approval, and report to Congress about the scope of the National Security Letters, he would shove that page of the law right up Congress' asses.

Yes. Bush democracy in action. Another big "Fuck you!" to the American people.

Chalk up another impeachable offense. The FBI, a part of the executive branch, did not accurately report the number and nature of the National Security Letters it issued. If there's a unitary executive, then that unitary executive is responsible for this significant, illegal trampling of the Constitution.

Let's talk about Bush democracy and the Rule of Law.

You will recall that a relatively small force of United States soldiers went into Afghanistan to assist the loose confederation of native tribes overthrow the Taliban-led Afghan government back in 2002. The U.S. wanted to smash Al Qaeda, which maintained training camps in Afghanistan with the support of the Taliban, and find a guy named Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice. Those, most thought, were the main goals of the war on the terrorists who were responsible for the attacks of the World Trade Center, the U.S.S. Cole, the U.S. embassies in Africa, none of which were perpetrated by Saddam Hussein or his evil henchmen in Iraq, the mullahs in Iran, or the guy with the weird hair in North Korea.

You probably do not recall Omar Khadr, however. He is a Canadian citizen, who went to Afghanistan and ended up fighting on the side of the Taliban-led government, which, again, the U.S. sought to replace with a kind of government Bush called a democracy. Khadr, fighting for the Afghan government forces, was captured.

I'm no genius, but it seems to me that Omar Khadr became a prisoner of war and was entitled to the protection of the Geneva Conventions.

Can anyone explain to me why he has been charged with murder, conspiracy, spying, and providing material support to terrorists? He has been held in Guantanamo by the U.S., which has ignored the Geneva Conventions.

And is the U.S.A. still fighting in Iraq because if the President withdraws the troops, the government that finally rises to power in Iraq will try to bring him to justice just as he is trying to bring Khadr to "justice." The high crimes and misdemeanors Bush has committed are far more serious than those perpetrated by Khadr, who was fighting for a legitimate, albeit, evil enemy government.

I'll probably be investigated by the FBI. The National Security Letters will go out. And because we are no longer free to speak our minds about our own government's illegal and irrational policies and criticize the Unitary Executive, I'll probably be brought in for questioning under suspicion for providing material support to a terrorist ... or the ACLU. Round up the usual suspects. The Sedition Act of the early 20th Century is back.

The last days of the Rule of Law are getting shorter and darker. Soon, you will be wondering why they have broken down your door and taken you away ... and they didn't even ask to see your papers.

Posted by Bill at March 9, 2007 10:33 AM