Tuesday, June 27, 2006

When a law isn't a law

When the president signed the bill banning the torture of detainees, he also signed a statement that he reserved the right to ignore the law. He did a very similar thing with the PATRIOT Act. Indeed, he has done it several times in his tenure as president, and according to Arlen Specter, he's done it more than any other president.

Some in Congress look at this as a loophole around the legislative veto, and others consider it a way around the veto power of Congress. While the statements aren't necessarily law, they do display the mindset of the president - namely, that the laws he passes don't apply to him.

This is discouraging. You have a man who refuses to veto anything, literally has not vetoed anything, who says that when he passes a law, it counts for everyone but him. "In the name of national security" should not be misused, and that's very close to what this looks like, to me.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

He thinks he is King of the US. And kings are part god. He believes he is above everyone and everything. Can we say megalomaniac?

Flea said...

Won't comment to much, just that I know he's not even popular in Aust either and neither is our's John Howard.