Tom Donlan, editorial page editor of Barron’s, has an excellent editorial on Bush’s illegal wiretaps: “Administration lawyers and the president himself have tortured the Constitution and extracted a suspension of the separation of powers.” “Putting the president above the Congress is an invitation to tyranny. The president has no powers except those specified in the […]
“Strength
The creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) — a vast amalgamation of 22 agencies and 170,000 government workers – has been one of President Bush’s biggest bragging points. The Washington Post published the first of a series today on how DHS has been a pathetic farce since the day it was created. In […]
How Federal Screwups Entitled Bush to Absolute Power
In his radio address last week, Bush justified warrantless wiretaps by invoking the case of two 9/11 hijackers whom the feds failed to trace before the attacks. Bush declared, ” Two of the terrorist hijackers who flew a jet into the Pentagon, Nawaf al Hamzi and Khalid al Mihdhar, communicated while they were in the […]
Bush, Conservatives, & Freedom
Bush administration policies are establishing the conservative standard for freedom for the coming generation. Few presidents have invoked freedom more often than Bush, and none in recent decades has shown such open contempt for the Rule of Law. His proclamation of a right to spy on American citizens without even a retroactive rubberstamp warrant from […]
Ethics in Washington: Maiming vs. Massaging
Republicans in Congress are pushing to make handjobs a federal crime. Well, not all of ’em – just the paid variety. (Dinners, or even multiple happy hour drinks, are still apparently legal tender for such barter). Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) is pushing legislation to provide federal grants to state and local law enforcement to target men […]
Another Torture Charade
It is amusing to see the media’s hosannahs over the Bush administration’s agreement to accept the McCain amendment to purportedly prohibit U.S. government officials from torturing people. This will be only one more provision in the statute book. Unless someone can find a way to make the Bush administration to obey the law, then passing another […]
The Media & Another No-Cost Federal Killing
An article of mine on how the news media is whitewashing the Air Marshals shooting last week of Rigoberto Alpizar was posted today by Editor and Publisher The final paragraph: Perhaps if Alpizar had regularly attended Georgetown dinner parties, the media would show more curiosity about his fate. In the old days, Americans were taught that […]
