Posted on 04/24/2006 5:25:03 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
PING!
Whoa!
When the CATO institute starts criticizing President Bush, you KNOW that the sh@t's hit the fan.
Of course, the Bushbot's will immediate claim that the CATO institute is some Commie-Pinko, Liberal, Muzzie-loving, Queer San Franciscan pot commune.
Wait for it...
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Poor misunderstood Padilla....They should have hauled him before Congress and tried him for Treason. At least it would have put the Rats on notice.
What a load of claptrap
Better life through chemistry.
Cato's libertarian - they criticize everyone.
Cato is a libertarian think tank that frowns upon an aggressive foreign policy, and thus it should not be all that surprising that Bush ruffles its feathers.
The Catoites are under the impression that market forces work against totalitarianism militarily as well as economically - a dubious proposition at best.
I like that... I like that so much I might use it as a tagline.
The US was a warzone on 9/11, I believe it still is, as there are people here still plotting further attacks. That said, I am concerned about the Padilla case. I agree with the author that I see no evidence of despotic behavior in President Bush. I wish he hadn't signed that McCain "anti-torture" thing. It also rules out "degrading" treatment, which seems overly broad. Part of the problem with this article is the fact that what is going on now has never really happened before (the type of war). It seems to me a mixture of a foreign invasion & a "civil war" (citizens attacking from within). It would make sense to view what the President is doing as seeking as much leeway as possible, in order to fight the war, knowing he would be restrained. I am obviously not an attorney, but it is clear to me none of this is as cut & dry as CATO says.
He HAD to sign it. McInsane stuck is assinine bill into an important piece of legislation that included funding for the WOT and our Troops. However, the President took care of the problem with a signing statement. LOL!
Today, I have signed into law H.R. 2863, the "Department of Defense, Emergency Supplemental Appropriations to Address Hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, and Pandemic Influenza Act, 2006."
The Act provides resources needed to fight the war on terror, help citizens of the Gulf States recover from devastating hurricanes, and protect Americans from a potential influenza pandemic.
Relevant text from President Bush's signing statement for H.R.2863:
The executive branch shall construe Title X in Division A of the Act, 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. Further, in light of the principles enunciated by the Supreme Court of the United States in 2001 in Alexander v. Sandoval, and noting that the text and structure of Title X do not create a private right of action to enforce Title X, the executive branch shall construe Title X not to create a private right of action.
This sounds like something that would be linked from the Daily Kos.
It is extraordinary that President Bush has shown such restraint in the exercise of presidential power.
CLUE to CATO: On September 11, nearly 3,000 non-combatant citizens were attacked by radical terrorists. Pearl Harbor does not compare with the scale and audacity of this attack.
In response to Pearl Harbor, FDR interned thousands of people with far less evidence than we have on Padilla or any Gitmo detainees. Korematsu is still on the books.
Democracy is not a suicide pact.
Is it too much to ask for just one empirical case of Presidential abuse of power before these grand over statements are made.
I am not even broaching Lincoln's exercises of Presidential power.
We really have entered a fantasy land of politics and war time. These minimalist notions of presidential power -- with little or no commentary on the outrageous expansions of congressional encroachment-- are ridiculous.
Bravo!
Best couple of sentences I have read on FR in a coon's age. Complaints about the CIC in the context of war time fantasy land and congressional encroachment, - ridiculous about says it all.
Of course, the Bushbot's will immediate claim that the CATO institute is some Commie-Pinko, Liberal, Muzzie-loving, Queer San Franciscan pot commune.
The Cato Institute is avowedly libertarian, if not a proponent of the Libertarian Party.
IOW, they are more liberal than the GOP.
Doug Bandow, of CATO, hates Bush's guts, and has since the beginning of his administration. Cato is generally negative toward Bush. This is not new news.
I completely agree with you here.
This is a ch__ch. What's missing?
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