Reply #11: The "inherent authority" so dangerous it can't even be articulated.

[Inland]

First, the very setup of our federal constitution is that there IS no "inherent authority". For the guys who say that they rely on the strict construction of the consitution to suddenly say there are powers of the president to jail people "inherent" in being the chief executive is nonsense. If Congress can't pass a law giving him the power, then he can't claim it.

Second, the "inherent" power is the power inherent in.....what? Being Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces during Wartime? Because being charged with the enforcment of laws doesn't give the power to ignore the law, or pick and choose, does it?

Third, the power includes disobeying statutes and treaties...secretly. We don't even know WHAT laws BUsh is breaking, because he claims the right to do it and NEVER TELL ANYBODY. That's what was revealed in the torture memos.

So Tucker Carlson's question is, gee, why doesn't Congress pass a law saying what the president can't do? And I say, what, ANOTHER one? Saying, "this time, we really mean it"? Why, if Bush has already said he doesn't have to obey and won't?

With a president unwilling to be bound by the law, impeachment is the only option.