This Week in Tyranny
(“ThinkProgress hat tip” edition)
LATE UPDATE: Please consider submitting a comment on a proposed change to the DNA Fingerprint Act of 2005 and the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 that would allow the government to take your DNA and keep it on file permanently if you are arrested at a demonstration on federal property. Comments are only taken until tomorrow so I apologize for the late notice. Two notes: 1) This has more in common with the behavior of a police state than a democracy and 2) note how it is included in the “Child Protection and Safety Act.” Who could possibly be against that, right?
Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) has introduced a bill (via)putting some restrictions on signing statements. It’s a long way from having actual impact - I doubt it would be signed by the current President and who knows if it would stand up to court scrutiny. And since signing statements themselves have ambiguous authority it’s even harder to say what its impact will really be. On the other hand it represents Congress pushing back on the executive branch a little bit, which heaven knows has been a novelty these last few years. That it comes from the GOP could just be self-interested distancing in an election year or anticipation of a Democrat in the White House next year, but whatever the motivation it’s a welcome sign.
Through a FOIA request the ACLU has obtained new information on detainee deaths in Iraq. Now that we’re mostly over the whole “few bad apples” nonsense let’s have a quick review: The President sets the policy, his team gets the word out and it gets implemented. While he didn’t say “let’s kill some prisoners at Abu Ghraib” he did send out word to implement inhumane treatment. The outcomes are his responsibility as well. The Pentagon, again under his leadership, is reluctant to release documents that show the gruesome outcomes of such a policy; good on the ACLU for successfully demanding some of them. This is just the latest example of how letting the executive make extraordinary claims and avoid oversight leads to poisonous results. None of this should be surprising.
Even if you ignore the moral dimensions of torture (!) there are practical reasons not to engage in it, one of which being that it renders useless for trial those you employ it against. And it doesn’t allow you to extract any useful information from their brains either. Let’s be clear: Those in charge put the pure sadistic thrill of torture and a steady stream of “oh God I’ll say anything to make it stop” gibberish ahead of interrogation methods that are known to work.
According to the Star-Telegram (via) “Former White House counsel Harriet Miers predicted that her constitutional clash with Congress over executive privilege and the separation of powers doctrine may not be settled until after President Bush leaves office next year.” It may well be, but if I were her I would hope not. The terrain is unfriendly at the moment but it will only get worse, and once she no longer has an ally in the Oval Office it will get substantially worse. This is just a hunch, but I suspect a lot of these issues will drag on for years but will ultimately end in a series of stinging rebukes. I also suspect the administration figured all the loose ends would be tied up by the time it left office.
Finally, this isn’t executive power related but a big thanks to Balloon Juice commenter Notorious P.A.T. for reminding us that the president has more in common with Chamberlain than Churchill. Of course, for all we know maybe the President just thinks Chamberlain’s weakness on defense led to a string of titles for the Boston Celtics.
Dan
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Reader Comments (2)
I belatedly looked at the regulation in your post and unfortunately, the problem seems to lie with the law being enacted in the first place. It is the law that needs to be reversed, either legislatively or through court action (although given the composition of the court, that seems less likelu).
Thanks Beth, and good point. It doesn't look like it will be reversed any time soon though, so I figure let's get what we can. You are right, though.