The Decider Has Been Told That He Is A President - NOT An Emperor (WaPo)

Checking the Decider

By Eugene Robinson
Friday, June 30, 2006; Page A27

Finally.

It seemed almost too much to hope for, but the Supreme Court finally called George W. Bush onto the carpet yesterday and asked him the obvious question: What part of "rule of law" do you not understand?

The justices rejected the kangaroo-court tribunals the administration had planned for the detainees who have been held for years without charges at Guantanamo Bay -- proceedings engineered to have the appearance of due process but not the substance. The ruling is a complicated, nuanced set of concurrences and dissents that will take some time to fully digest, but the fundamental message is clear: Despite his outrageous claims of virtually unlimited presidential power, the self-proclaimed Decider doesn't get to decide everything.

"Congress has not issued the Executive a 'blank check,' " Justice Stephen Breyer wrote in his opinion. Has anyone broken the news to poor Dick Cheney?

............................

When Bush gets time to "fully review" the ruling -- yesterday he was occupied with the Japanese prime minister and had only a "drive-by briefing" on the decision -- the above sentence would be a good place to start. He has been told that he is still a president, not an emperor.


more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/29/AR2006062901773.html

Here's more:

~snip~

"Perhaps the greatest impact of the 185-page ruling is that it rejects Bush's claim that the necessity of waging the "global war on terror" gives him extraordinary powers that lie beyond the jurisdiction of the courts. The ruling reminds him of "the court's duty, in both peace and war, to preserve the constitutional safeguards of civil liberty."

~snip~

The court also made an important statement about America's duty to international law. The majority opinion finds that the military tribunals, as structured by the administration, violate both the Uniform Code of Military Justice "and the four Geneva Conventions signed in 1949." In other words, the Decider was wrong when he decided the Geneva Conventions didn't have to be taken into account for suspected al-Qaeda detainees. He was wrong when he asserted that the United States did not have to respect international agreements it has sworn to obey.

Does that also apply to torture? To "extraordinary rendition''? To secret CIA prisons?

Seems almost too much to hope for."




:thumbsup:

Its really going to get bad for him..Yeah right LoL

This is all a FUCKING JOKE! We have all been scammed and Lied to!

The people who gave him the election in 2000 are really going to step in for checks and balances at this point. What a joke!

Folks Democracy in America is Gone, its a broken election system that simply is rigged and a pat on the back, lets appoint all my friends from big business to every office of government.

Its the Ohio gang X 10

has already got over 1million for his race, hes already sold out to like 5 lobbyist and its not even july yet. To put it in perspective, the democratic candidate, Siferd has got about 60,000 so far. I telling you now if Jordan get that chair you can kiss Ohio goodbye forever, he makes some of the bush administration look like moderates

Because I don't get the feeling that your going to start taking up arms against your oppressor. All your posts are doom and gloom... defeatist pessimism...

This fight isn't over yet... not by a longshot... The neoconservatives will be banished...

but have you seen how many dumb fuck Americans there are out there? Oy! Every time I see an American flag or Support our Troops sticker I think: "yup, there goes another dumb fuck who believes the system is in good working order." Look how much effort it is taking to convince people that BOTH the 2000 and 2004 elections were stolen? I am with Kucinich, we're fucked.

conservative idiot to have a support our troops sticker thats pretty narrow thinking, no offense

Coulters and the MSM have hijacked those symbols and the American flag for the repugs, so I wold rather err on the side of caution and assume those who sport those items ae indeed idiots. If they aren't, I hardly think my opinion of them should matter one way or another.

come on there is only one ann coulter lol

:woohoo:

most of those "dumb-asses" simply don't know the truth. You know they get all of their info from the mainstream media... but I figured that folks like you and I, and all the good people on this board have a greater advantage, and that advantage is that the people around us KNOW us. We can build meaningful relationships with people... the talking heads can't.

Look, when your clueless neighbor needs a cup of sugar, help packing things up, a flat tire, help putting up shutters for the coming hurricane, a ride out of town, a shoulder to cry on, or any kind of helping hand who can they turn to? Can they call up Paul Zahn, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, or Anne Coulter? You bet your ass they can't. Those ass-mumps won't be around in a pinch, but you might be. The trust they put in those weasels is purely superficial. The trust you build with the folks around you is the real thing. Once you have that trust... your word is gold. Believe it.

there is the "patriot" card that they use to portray us as the lunatic fringe. When the only reason we are lunatics is because they are driving us fucking crazy!!!

:crazy:

I guess we could convert a few "dumb asses" (something that I can become on occasion, I might add), but it just seems like it would be so much effort. How can a president go from 90% approval to 30% approval with a rubber stamp congress and there still be some hesitation as to whether the dems will regain control of congress if it isn't damn well near hopeless??!:cry:

Finally, a positive post with some real concrete solutions!:thumbsup:

Roberts wasn't voting and the three that sided with Bush are the usual suspects (Thomas, Alito, Scalia). But what's really, truely going to change the fabric of this court is if George can squeeze in one more nomination before his term is up. Which is possible considering Judge Stevens is 86.

should NEVER let them forget it.

:D

the Bush Cartel. Where no loop holes exist they just ignore the law and give everyone the big middle finger. If we can't get fair elections, what are the alternatives?

because the SC upheld not only the Uniform Code of Military Justice but also the Geneva Conventions. That mean Bush & Co will be eligible for war crimes charges down the road in the US and in International Court. In other words, their screwed.

Restrain him, impeach him, indict him, imprison him and all his crony sickos too.