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While the A&S laws were the proximate cause of the Federalist demise it was a far more complex phenomenon. There were several contributing forces including: Hamilton's attack on Adams through a private letter Burr had pilfered from the mails and circulated widely; Hamilton's self-destruction over the Reynolds affair; colossal stupidity of the electorate swinging to the Left; growth of the new states without a large federalist presence; a decade of RATmedia lies which came to be accepted as truth; blind acceptance of Jeffersonian duplicity and hypocrisy was also important.

While no supporter of this law I believe it is insignificant and certainly not "dereliction of duty" for Bush to have signed it.

While the branches of government are equal some are more equal than the rest and the Founders clearly meant to make the Legislative the most powerful. And Congress has the power under the Exceptions Clause to direct the Court that it cannot rule in certain cases. However, the branches do NOT have an equal power in interpreting the constitution THAT is left to the Court.

Nothing should happen to Bush for signing this toothless law. It simply will change little for intelligent politicians.

I disagree. When Congress passes a law that prohibits us from being critical on them right before the election, you know there is something wrong with that. There is a huge incentive for Congressmen to vote for this to keep them in office. Hence, this is an "Incumbent Protection Act." While sitting politicians get free face time from the media, it will get harder for challengers to go up against an incumbent. When do you want to attack your opponent? Just before the election. It is like MLB deciding that no runs scored from the 7-9th innings will get counted for the outcome of a game. The perverse incentives this bill creates to keep the incumbents in office is absolutely disgusting. Bush should have never signed it, but caved to pressure. Or, who knows, he is a big govt type. So, he must have liked it.