"Leaked memo says Bush planning a THIRD TERM"
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/01/gwot_cha/
Bush preps historic Third Term - memo
By Thomas C Greene in Washington Published Saturday 1st April 2006
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) and the office of the White House Counsel are preparing a draft document laying out the President's wartime authority to remain in office past 2008, The Register has learned.
The scheme is described as an emergency "continuity presidency," made necessary by the extraordinary circumstances and unique challenges of protecting the United States from the threat of international terrorism.
"The world changed on 9/11," a confidential DoJ memo obtained by The Register explains, "and no Administration is US history is better suited to adapt productively to those changes than this one.
"The Attorney General supports the basic framework in the White House Counsel's draft proposal for a future Executive Order establishing a Continuity Presidency, with two provisos: 1. There must be at least the appearance of a time limit, which the AG believes might be satisfied by tying the duration of the Continuity Presidency to the duration of the GWOT [global war on terrorism]; and 2. The House and Senate Majority Leaders and the Chairpersons of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees must issue a written certification that they have approved the plan.
"AG does not believe that the plan will succeed unless those conditions can be met. Suggest you liase with [the White House office of] Legislative Affairs and get their sense of the liklihood that the key Members will work with us."
The memo is signed Christine McIntyre, Special Assistant to the United States Attorney General, and is addressed to Philip Van Zandt, Special Assistant to White House Counsel Harriet Miers.
A second memo leaked to The Register, this time from DoJ Assistant McIntyre to Jock Mahoney, Special Assistant to US Solicitor General Paul Clement, and to Philip Van Zandt at the White House, anticipates an immediate Supreme Court challenge to the scheme, and offers a few suggestions for defending the Administration's action.
"We will be attacked on the basis of Article II Section 1, and on Amendment XXII," McIntyre writes. "Thus it is absolutely crucial that the anticipated Executive Order for a Continuity Presidency make no mention whatsoever of a 'Third Term.' This will eliminate appeals to Amendment XXII, and leave us free to focus our attack on Article II Section 1 alone. Thus, the Executive Order has got to be framed as a necessary - and Congressionally authorized - extension of the President's Second Term, so that we can base our arguments on the Joint Resolution and Article II Section 2.
"Above all," McIntyre warns, "we must emphasize that the 2001 Joint Resolution, in which Congress empowered the President to 'use all necessary and appropriate force ... to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States,' and Article II Section 2 of the United States Constitution, give the President ample authority to issue an Executive Order for a Continuity Presidency for the duration of the GWOT, to exercise fully his mandate to protect the American people from harm.
"We must also press the national security angle hard and emphasize that the United States would be endangered severely by a change of government at this time. America cannot afford to give the terrorists such an opportunity."
This article has also been posted in the following newsgroups with some very interesting comments
news:alt.politics
news:alt.rush-limbaugh
news:alt.politics.democrats.d
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
Heh heh.....This ought to drive the moonbats nuts.
For some reason, my B.S. detector is going off really loud on this story.
Look at the date of the memo..4/1..it's April Fools
Posted before as an April Fool's joke.
Regardless, I will not be surprised if and when this becomes an actual rumor from the left. For what it's worth, the same rumor surfaced with Reagan, Bush first and Clinton.
I guess people will believe anything.
For readers of The Register, every day is Fool's day.
This looks just like their regular features.
Dear DU, if it was good enough for FDR it is most certainly good enough for GWB.
Bravo Sierra
This ought to send the goons at DU and Daily Kos into full meltdown!
"Leaked memo says Bush planning a THIRD TERM"
I love articles that cause LIEberal/Socialist/Marxist Bastards to get their panties in a twist!
Whatever makes them look foolish works for me!
It's BS. They reported the same thing about Clinton in his final two years. Waste of time.
It won't happen.
First, this nation has undergone presidential election in other wars: Civil and World.
Second, Bush fatigue. If Bush tried to use 'war' as a reason for his staying in office, it would look similar to what Johnson appeared to be doing with the Vietnam War.
No, in 08, it will be time for a change, war or no war.
President Bush will be president past 2008 as inauguration day is January 20, 2009.
Remember when folks were saying that Clinton was going to do the same thing?
April 1st???
April Fools day was yesterday.
This reminds me of the rumor that Bill Clinton wasn't going to step down after the 2000 election
The same thing was written about Clinton.