Torture Away!
Bush said his wiretapping of people in the U.S. without warrants was legal because of his inherent Constitutional powers as commander in chief. He said he was allowed to violate federal law that specifically prohibits wiretapping people in the U.S. without warrants because the Constitution gives him that power. Maybe you were thinking that wiretapping isn't so bad. Maybe a few people get their privacy invaded and the government listens in on their personal phone conversations, but that's not so bad in the grand scheme of things. Isn't fighting terror worth it? Maybe you think these things. I don't, but that's just me. I think our personal liberties are worth protecting from terrorists as well as from the government.
But maybe you disagree with me and can't get too worked up about a little "harmless" snooping. Well, on December 30, the president signed the law containing the McCain Anti-torture provision. This is the law that says, "No individual in the custody or under the physical control of the United States Government, regardless of nationality or physical location, shall be subject to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment." When Bush signed this law, his official signing statement says he will "construe Title X in Division A of the Act [the anti-torture section], relating to detainees, in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the President to supervise the unitary executive branch and as Commander in Chief and consistent with the constitutional limitations on the judicial power, which will assist in achieving the shared objective of the Congress and the President, evidenced in Title X, of protecting the American people from further terrorist attacks." So Bush claims the same power that lets him completely ignore the anti-wiretapping law also applies to this anti-torture law. He is saying in no uncertain terms that he is free to ignore the anti-torture law.
Bush is saying in no uncertain terms that he is going to allow torture.
Notice he also says he will construe the law in a manner consistent with the constitutional limitations on the judicial power." What does this mean? The same thing it means with regard to the anti-wiretapping law. He isn't going to allow anyone to challenge his actions in court. He is saying we, the American people through our executive branch, will torture people and we will not allow them access to any court to challenge our actions.
So maybe a little wiretapping is okay. How do you feel about torture?
But maybe you disagree with me and can't get too worked up about a little "harmless" snooping. Well, on December 30, the president signed the law containing the McCain Anti-torture provision. This is the law that says, "No individual in the custody or under the physical control of the United States Government, regardless of nationality or physical location, shall be subject to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment." When Bush signed this law, his official signing statement says he will "construe Title X in Division A of the Act [the anti-torture section], relating to detainees, in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the President to supervise the unitary executive branch and as Commander in Chief and consistent with the constitutional limitations on the judicial power, which will assist in achieving the shared objective of the Congress and the President, evidenced in Title X, of protecting the American people from further terrorist attacks." So Bush claims the same power that lets him completely ignore the anti-wiretapping law also applies to this anti-torture law. He is saying in no uncertain terms that he is free to ignore the anti-torture law.
Bush is saying in no uncertain terms that he is going to allow torture.
Notice he also says he will construe the law in a manner consistent with the constitutional limitations on the judicial power." What does this mean? The same thing it means with regard to the anti-wiretapping law. He isn't going to allow anyone to challenge his actions in court. He is saying we, the American people through our executive branch, will torture people and we will not allow them access to any court to challenge our actions.
So maybe a little wiretapping is okay. How do you feel about torture?
posted by Charles S. Russell at 1:52 PM
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