We're in a constitutional crisis.By Joyce Appleby and Gary Hart

[sellitman]

Here is a very interesting slant on the power grab by Dim Son and his Neo-Con backers. On a side note, Can Gary Hart run for office again? He has really matured into a great Democrat. -Kevin


guest commentary
We're in a constitutional crisis
By Joyce Appleby and Gary Hart

George W. Bush and his most trusted advisers, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, entered office determined to restore the authority of the presidency. Five years and many decisions later, they've pushed the expansion of presidential power so far that we now confront a constitutional crisis.

Relying on legal opinions from Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and Professor John Yoo, then working in the White House, Bush has insisted that there can be no limits to the power of the commander in chief in time of war. More recently, the president has claimed that laws relating to domestic spying and the torture of detainees do not apply to him. His interpretation has produced a devilish conundrum.

President Bush has given Commander in Chief Bush unlimited wartime authority. But the "war on terror" is more a metaphor than a fact. Terrorism is a method, not an ideology; terrorists are criminals, not warriors. No peace treaty can possibly bring an end to the fight against far- flung terrorists. The emergency powers of the president during this "war" can now extend indefinitely, at the pleasure of the president and at great threat to the liberties and rights guaranteed us under the Constitution.

More:
http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_3645064

[neoblues]

1. Everything's perfectly normal...

in the Theater of the Absurd!

As a nation and a people we'd better wake up our Congress and demand they (a) recognize that the "War on Terror" is nothing more than a metaphor, (b) the "War in IRAQ" is both a conflict of choice and merely a "police action", not a war and (c) do their job (maintain the separation of powers, retain and use their own powers of oversight, oppose and obstruct this fascist/dictatorial power grab by the Executive and fight to save our Constitution and the Rule of Law--and our very "Democracy" (Constitutional Republic), before it's too late).

[sellitman]

2. Welcome to the Theater of truth.

Otherwise known as DU.