By and large, our gutless Fourth Estate pals are playing monkey-no-see monkey-no-hear regarding this article by Charlie Savage in the Sunday Boston Globe. (That might be behind an e-mail harvesting free registration wall--sign up or try [email protected] for the e-mail and "boston" for the password, courtesy of our friends at bugmenot).
You'll remember when Senator John McCain (the occasionally sane--but remember, occasionally ain't enough--Republican war hero and torture victim from Arizona) managed to pass legislation last fall forbidding the use of torture by the American military and intelligence services. You'll remember it because it after he signed the bill, Bush took the trouble to draft a "signing statement" in which, in effect, he said "No torture, sure, 'ceptin them times me and Dick sez we get to torture."
Well, as it turn out, Bush issues "signing statements" on about ten percent of the bills that cross his desk.
Which means that he's asserting his "right" to ignore--so far--ten percent of the laws he signs.
Want more examples? Here are ten from a Globe sidebar:
March 9: Justice Department officials must
give reports to Congress by certain dates on how the FBI is using the
USA Patriot Act to search homes and secretly seize papers.
Bush's signing statement:
The president can order Justice Department officials to withhold any
information from Congress if he decides it could impair national
security or executive branch operations.
Dec. 30, 2005: US interrogators cannot torture prisoners or otherwise subject them to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.
Bush's signing statement:
The president, as commander in chief, can waive the torture ban if he
decides that harsh interrogation techniques will assist in preventing
terrorist attacks.
Dec. 30: When requested, scientific
information ''prepared by government researchers and scientists shall
be transmitted [to Congress] uncensored and without delay."
Bush's signing statement:
The president can tell researchers to withhold any information from
Congress if he decides its disclosure could impair foreign relations,
national security, or the workings of the executive branch.
Aug. 8:
The Department of Energy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and its
contractors may not fire or otherwise punish an employee whistle-blower
who tells Congress about possible wrongdoing.
Bush's signing statement:
The president or his appointees will determine whether employees of the
Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission can give
information to Congress.
Dec. 23, 2004: Forbids US troops
in Colombia from participating in any combat against rebels, except in
cases of self-defense. Caps the number of US troops allowed in Colombia
at 800.
Bush's signing statement: Only the president, as
commander in chief, can place restrictions on the use of US armed
forces, so the executive branch will construe the law ''as advisory in
nature."
Dec. 17: The new national intelligence director
shall recruit and train women and minorities to be spies, analysts, and
translators in order to ensure diversity in the intelligence community.
Bush's signing statement:
The executive branch shall construe the law in a manner consistent with
a constitutional clause guaranteeing ''equal protection" for all. (In
2003, the Bush administration argued against race-conscious
affirmative-action programs in a Supreme Court case. The court rejected
Bush's view.)
Oct. 29: Defense Department personnel are
prohibited from interfering with the ability of military lawyers to
give independent legal advice to their commanders.
Bush's signing statement:
All military attorneys are bound to follow legal conclusions reached by
the administration's lawyers in the Justice Department and the Pentagon
when giving advice to their commanders.
Aug. 5: The
military cannot add to its files any illegally gathered intelligence,
including information obtained about Americans in violation of the
Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches.
Bush's signing statement: Only the president, as commander in chief, can tell the military whether or not it can use any specific piece of intelligence.
Nov. 6, 2003:
US officials in Iraq cannot prevent an inspector general for the
Coalition Provisional Authority from carrying out any investigation.
The inspector general must tell Congress if officials refuse to
cooperate with his inquiries.
Bush's signing statement:
The inspector general ''shall refrain" from investigating anything
involving sensitive plans, intelligence, national security, or anything
already being investigated by the Pentagon. The inspector cannot tell
Congress anything if the president decides that disclosing the
information would impair foreign relations, national security, or
executive branch operations.
Nov. 5, 2002: Creates an
Institute of Education Sciences whose director may conduct and publish
research ''without the approval of the secretary [of education] or any
other office of the department."
Bush's signing statement:
The president has the power to control the actions of all executive
branch officials, so ''the director of the Institute of Education
Sciences shall [be] subject to the supervision and direction of the
secretary of education."