Glenn: The most extremist government interpretation of the Bill of Rights I’ve heard in my lifetime

in essence, the obama administration is saying that, if, in their infinite wisdom, they decided i was a threat to my country, they could deliberate in private about my fate and, without even giving me a chance to face my accusers or, even more egregiously, without informing me that the deliberation was taking place or even that i had been declared a threat, i could find myself walking down the street and suddenly be unceremoniously murdered in cold blood in broad daylight...

glenn greenwald...

Here we have the Obama administration asserting what I genuinely believe, without hyperbole, is the most extremist government interpretation of the Bill of Rights I’ve heard in my lifetime — that the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee that the State cannot deprive you of your life without “due process of law” is fulfilled by completely secret, oversight-free “internal deliberations by the executive branch” — and it’s now barely something anyone (including me) even notices when The New York Times reports it (as the ACLU’s Jameel Jaffer asked yesterday: “These Dems who think executive process is due process: Where were they when Bush‬ needed help with warrantless wiretapping?” — or his indefinite detention scheme?)

[...]

Every year that these assaults on core liberties are entrenched and expanded further — the Firth Amendment guarantee of due process “can be satisfied by internal deliberations in the executive branch” – the more normalized they become, the more invulnerable to challenge they are, the more unlikely it is that they will ever be reversed. In 2006, Al Gore gave a speech on the Bush/Cheney assault on the Constitution and asked: “If the president has the inherent authority to eavesdrop on American citizens without a warrant, imprison American citizens on his own declaration, kidnap and torture, then what can’t he do?” What prompted Gore’s denunciation was mere eavesdropping and detention without judicial review. That’s no longer controversial. Now we have this question: if the U.S. President can openly declare the power to order even the nation’s own citizens executed by the CIA in total secrecy, without charges or a whiff of transparency or oversight, what can’t he do?

an online acquaintance posted the following yesterday...

Reading this crap makes me want to leave the planet as soon as possible.

i totally understand what she's saying...

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Beyond outrage: a manifesto

took the words right out of my mouth...

nightprowlkitty at daily kos...

We saw an election stolen, the will of the people denied. And in the aftermath we saw every progressive and humane aspect of government subverted. And we were outraged.

We saw the great City of New York attacked and even as people all around the world united in sympathy and gave help, criminals who had stolen power planned to go to war with the wrong enemy. And we were outraged.

We saw the social apparatus of our nation subverted and prostituted to engender mistrust and hatred towards anyone who would speak the truth. And we were outraged.

We saw a bloody war, an illegal war of aggression, spiral out of control, with "collateral damage" so high that it astounds the senses, hurts unbearably, as at the same time we saw our wounded soldiers untreated and abused by the very ones with power that sent them to this war. And we were outraged.

We saw the great City of New Orleans and the lovely Gulf Coast drowned and allowed to remain damaged, people treated like animals, again the hate unleashed by the criminals in power through a deranged media absorbed by its own profits and fears of retaliation by those very criminals. Whatever good reporters there may have been were quickly subsumed by corporate edits of complicity and kowtowing. And we were outraged.

We saw our rights being sold down the river, our own Democratic representatives so far removed from reality as to not even make a gesture towards real opposition to these criminals who have stolen power in America and destroyed our unity as a nation. And we were outraged.

We saw our justice system perverted beyond recognition, honest men and women punished for doing their jobs, laws against the weakest of us enforced with savagery and contempt for the simple basics of humanity, from poor folks with no health care to undocumented migrants being treated no differently than terrorists at Gitmo, to folks from public housing in New Orleans being forced into exile from their homes, their lives, exile and death, and oh, we were outraged.

And we saw a courageous man in Congress being forced to recant his words and apologize to appease the powers that still retain their dark hold over this country, even though the only powers left are those of destruction and fear and greed.

And I am no longer outraged. No. Nor am I shamed. My eyes are wide open now and I am not outraged nor ashamed.

I am resolved. My gaze is now level rather than rolling in terror and anger. I know this misAdministration for what they are and I know what they will do. I know our Democratic leadership for what they are as well, and they have made it clear what they will do.

This war must end. And this crew of criminals in the Executive Branch need to be removed from office. I know this. And I know that our present leadership, in both parties, have not made a commitment to doing either of these things.

I don't blame anyone here for how they are now reacting to this reality. For those who feel they must leave the party, I have no words of censure. For those who will stay and fight for the party, I have no complaint. For those who must continue to yell, I have no need for refutation.

I am united with anyone who is against this misAdministration. I am united with all my brothers and sisters across this nation who see what is going on, and I will support all who oppose these criminals and their enablers. I will support in any way I can all my neighbors who help each other, from the terror attacks in New York City to the floods on the Gulf Coast to the terrible firestorms in California.

I have no more outrage, feel no more shame. What was done to Rep. Stark has shown me there is no longer any reason to respect those who have been charged with leading our nation. They are simply human beings who have been unable, for whatever reason, to do the right thing. They are not even worth my outrage.

I will focus my attention from now on to those who are able to do the right thing, from whatever walk of life they travel, powerful or with no power at all. I am resolved. I am not outraged and I am not ashamed.

superb... now, let's take that resolution and put it to work, shall we...?

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George actually BELIEVES he's the president

john dean...

Those with whom I have spoken have serious doubt that Bush and the White House staff really knows what Cheney is doing, why he is doing it, or how he is doing it. From the outset of this administration, Cheney has been instrumental in placing people loyal to him throughout the Executive Branch. This is not to say that Bush in not "the decider," for he is, but by shaping the debate and controlling the paper flow, Cheney decides what the decider will decide.

It has long been apparent that Cheney's genius is that he lets George W. Bush get out of bed every morning actually believing he is the President. In fact, his presidency is run by the President of the Senate, for Cheney is its true center of gravity. That fact has become more apparent with every passing year of this presidency, and anyone who thinks otherwise has truly "misunderestimated" our nominal president and his vice president.

it's a goddam, rotten shame that it's taken 6 1/2 years for what many of us have long suspected to begin to be exposed to the light of day...

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"The Cheney doctrine ... Never do in public what you can accomplish by stealth"

my hope is that big-time, big dick, dark darth, fourthbranch has finally managed to get his tit firmly caught in a wringer...

[T]he Cheney doctrine at work: Never willingly provide information, however innocuous. Never do in public what you can accomplish by stealth. And never make a reasonable argument when an outlandish one is at hand.

hope springs eternal...

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We're being studied and manipulated like lab rats

today's nyt...

President Bush has turned the executive branch into a two-way mirror. They get to see everything Americans do: our telephone calls, e-mail, and all manner of personal information. And we get to see nothing about what they do.

yeah...? and...?

Governments have to keep secrets. But this administration has grossly abused that trust, routinely using claims of national security to hide policies that are immoral and almost certainly illegal, to avoid embarrassment, and to pursue Mr. Bush’s dreams of an imperial presidency.

ferchrissake, nyt... you're laying out a thumbnail sketch of an out-of-control, criminal presidential administration, and THAT'S your conclusion...? how about a CALL TO ACTION, fercryinoutloud...? i'm tired of sitting around, blogging my ass off, wringing my hands, bemoaning the fate of my country...

WHEN THE HELL
ARE WE GOING TO
DO
SOMETHING...?

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Not part of the Executive Branch? No money for YOU!

good... i like it a lot...

from both daily kos and atrios...

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel issued the following statement regarding his amendment to cut funding for the Office of the Vice President from the bill that funds the executive branch. The legislation – the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill -- will be considered on the floor of the House of Representatives next week.

"The Vice President has a choice to make. If he believes his legal case, his office has no business being funded as part of the executive branch. However, if he demands executive branch funding he cannot ignore executive branch rules. At the very least, the Vice President should be consistent. This amendment will ensure that the Vice President's funding is consistent with his legal arguments. I have worked closely with my colleagues on this amendment and will continue to pursue this measure in the coming days."

emanuel's statement was accompanied by the following graphic, thanks to raw story...



the "no money for you" post headline was inspired by "the soup nazi" seinfeld episode, arguably one of the funniest episodes in the series...

listen here...

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So, the office of the president doesn't belong to the executive branch either

i have to ask myself if bush's response here is simply a statement of the original intent or something designed to attempt to cover cheney's flabby white ass...

The White House said Friday that, like Vice President Dick Cheney's office, President Bush's office is not allowing an independent federal watchdog to oversee its handling of classified national security information.

An executive order that Bush issued in March 2003 — amending an existing order — requires all government agencies that are part of the executive branch to submit to oversight. Although it doesn't specifically say so, Bush's order was not meant to apply to the vice president's office or the president's office, a White House spokesman said.

[...]

"We don't dispute that the ISOO [Information Security Oversight Office] has a different opinion. But let's be very clear: This executive order was issued by the president, and he knows what his intentions were," [White House spokesman Tony Fratto] said. "He is in compliance with his executive order."

well, yeah, he didn't SAY so, but, ya know, ya kinda gotta read between the lines, dontcha know... after all, we all know that the law is ultimately up to the prez, never mind what words are actually written on the piece of paper... they're just a formality...

so, obviously, if it suits them, they just make it up... mark my words, it isn't much longer before the white house will be telling us, when challenged, that they don't HAVE to provide an explanation...

how much more of this can the country be expected to stand before we finally move to toss these bastards out...? it's now to the point where saying they're lawless and out of control is a serious understatement... they gotta go...

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Is Darth the VP of the United States or does he head the government of his own country?

i don't understand how the shit he can get away with this...

The Office of Vice President Dick Cheney told an agency within the National Archives that for purposes of securing classified information, the Vice President's office is not an 'entity within the executive branch' according to a letter released Thursday by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

"The Oversight Committee has learned that over the objections of the National Archives, you exempted the Office of the Vice President from the presidential executive order that establishes a uniform, government-wide system for safeguarding classified national security information," Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), the Committee's chairman, wrote in a letter to Cheney. "Your decision to exempt your office from the President's order is problematic because it could place national security secrets at risk. It is also hard to understand given the history of security breaches involving officials in your office."

Waxman noted that Cheney's office had declared itself not affected by an executive order amended by President George W. Bush in 2003 regarding classification and declassification of government materials.

i do believe that the vice president serves as the president of the united states senate... therefore, by extension, the office of the vice president is subject to the rules governing the senate, yes...? no...? if he's not within the executive branch, that leaves only the legislative branch, and the judiciary, right...?

The Vice President of the United States is the first in the presidential line of succession, becoming the new President of the United States upon the death, resignation, or removal of the President. As designated by the Constitution of the United States, the vice president also serves as the President of the Senate, and may break tie votes in that chamber.

[...]

As President of the Senate (Article I, Section 3), the vice president oversees procedural matters and may cast a tie-breaking vote.

so, darth, if you insist on where you're NOT, where ARE you...? hmmmmmm...??

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I'm astounded he's responding at all

he must be feeling a little pressure, don't you think...?

Bush, at a news conference after meeting with Uruguay's president, said he was briefed last week on the report from the Justice Department's internal watchdog that disclosed the FBI's transgressions involving a subpoena known as national security letters.

"My question is, `What are you going to do solve the problem and how fast can you get it solved?'" the president said.

He expressed confidence in FBI Director Robert Mueller and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. "Those problems will be addressed as quickly as possible," Bush said.

oh, golly, george... just exactly HOW are these problems going to be addressed...? YOU are the one that created the very set of circumstances that allowed this to happen... YOU are the one, you big, fat liar, who put your signature on this signing statement (below)... YOU are the one who opened this pandora's box, and NOW you say you want to "solve the problem...?" george, i don't know how to break this to you, but you ARE the problem...

When President Bush signed the reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act this month, he included an addendum saying [...]

"The executive branch shall construe the provisions . . . that call for furnishing information to entities outside the executive branch . . . in a manner consistent with the president's constitutional authority to supervise the unitary executive branch and to withhold information . . . "

"solving" this problem, to me, means only one thing, george... you gotta go...

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Reality check: "The only way our form of democracy works is to realize that the President wants to be King"

steve clemons hits on the hard-core reality behind the founders' wisdom in establishing the balance of powers...

The only way our form of democracy works is to realize that the President wants to be King, that Members of Congress want to be re-elected and derive power from keeping the King in check, and that the Judiciary has ultimate authority in most cases to resolve disputes between branches of government and contending political interests. The aspirant King and the wannabe rulers in the Congress both have input into the membership of the Judiciary.

[...]

We should also expect that the Patriot Act would be misused, misapplied, and distorted beyond the intention Congress and the White House had for it.

glenn greenwald elaborates...

When a country is ruled by an individual who repeatedly and openly arrogates unto himself the power to violate the law, and specifically proclaims that he is under no obligation to account to Congress or anyone else concerning the exercise of radical new surveillance powers such as NSLs [National Security Letters], it should come as absolutely no surprise that agencies under his control freely break the law. The culture of lawlessness which the President has deliberately and continuously embraced virtually ensures, by design, that any Congressional limits on the use of executive power will be violated.

i posted on this yesterday, and i'll simply repeat what i said then...

there is no way to overstate how grave is our constitutional crisis... unless and until george and his criminal gang are removed, yadda, yadda, ad nauseam...

and deliver us from evil, amen...

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The constitutional crisis our mainstream political and media elite have collectively decided to ignore

i'm fully excerpting atrios' greenwald snippets...

greenwald's full article is up over at salon...

The Bush administration has created vast and permanent data bases to collect and store evidence revealing the private activities of millions of American citizens. When the FBI obtains information essentially in secret -- with no judicial oversight -- that information is stored in those data bases. This is all being done by the executive branch with no safeguards and no oversight, and the little oversight that Congress has required has been defiantly and publicly brushed aside by the President, who sees legal requirements as nothing more than suggestions or options which he will recognize only if he chooses to. That is the constitutional crisis that we have endured under virtually the entire Bush presidency -- the crisis which, for the most part, our mainstream political and media elite have collectively decided not to acknowledge.

The story here is not merely that the FBI is breaking the law and abusing these powers. That has long been predicted and, to some degree, even documented. The story is that the FBI is ignoring the very legal obligations which George Bush vowed were not obligations at all, but mere suggestions to be accepted only if he willed it. It is yet another vivid example proving that the President's ideology of lawlessness exists not merely in theory, but as the governing doctrine under which the executive branch has acted, time and again and as deliberately as possible, in violation of whatever laws it deems inconvenient.

there is no way to overstate how grave is our constitutional crisis... unless and until george and his criminal gang are removed, yadda, yadda, ad nauseam...

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