The Rule of Law

Last year, in a rare post on politics, I objected to one aspect of the Torture Memos, namely, the assertion that, in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief, the President has unlimited and unlimitable power - a theory that seems to me incompatible with a democratic republic. Though the administration has disavowed the memos, it still clings to this assertion, which, among other things, renders the laws enabling the Geneva Conventions unconstitutional.

Three Senators are preparing amendments to the defense appropriation bill, amendments aimed at barring the US military from engaging in "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" of detainees, from hiding prisoners from the Red Cross, and from using interrogation methods not authorized by a new Army field manual. The White House has declared that, if any such amendments are attached to the bill, it will be vetoed. President Bush has not vetoed a single bill in his four-plus years of office, and this is the issue that will spur him to do so? Vile, vile, I say. This administration cannot be trusted to preserve the republic as we have known it.

Oh, by the way, those Senators? John McCain (R-AZ), former POW and torture victim; Lindsey Graham (R-SC), former JAG lawyer; and John Warner (R-VA), former Secretary of the Navy. If these men are not credible on these issues, who is?

hilzoy has more details, and discusses another related issue here.

Animagus

Hm. I was uncomfortably honest with this one, and actually got an answer I can believe.


Fox. You sly thing you.


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ETA: I swiped this one from mmegaera.