It's Legal -- the President is Above the Law
Billmon quotes an article from the WSJ that discusses a memorandum that provides BushCo legal cover for torture in violation of the Geneva Convention. Included in the article is the following quote:
The article concludes:
Apparently the lawyer in charge of this policy, Mary L. Walker, had God at her side while coming up with this defense of torture.
But the thing to worry about, of course, is that not only has the Executive Branch thought about such things, but they have actively put policy into place that justifies any activity, legal or not. And this has always been the case with BushCo: I remember Bush claiming after a meeting at his ranch in August of 2002 (a meeting he denied was even about Iraq before anybody even asked, which makes this statement all the more peculiar -- that's why I remember it) that, on the word of his legal advisor, he didn't need Congressional authority to go to war against Iraq.
BushCo has rendered themselves legally above the law. They do not respect the legitimacy of American democracy -- never did, never will. And those who don't tow the (republican xtian) party line and wave the flag and gleefully genuflect at Murka's atrocities will soon find themselves declared "the enemy within."
BushCo ain't leaving, folks.
Likewise, the lawyers found that "constitutional principles" make it impossible to "punish officials for aiding the president in exercising his exclusive constitutional authorities" and neither Congress nor the courts could "require or implement the prosecution of such an individual."
To protect subordinates should they be charged with torture, the memo advised that Mr. Bush issue a "presidential directive or other writing" that could serve as evidence, since authority to set aside the laws is "inherent in the president." [emphasis added]
The article concludes:
The report seemed "designed to find the legal loopholes that will permit the use of torture against detainees," said Mary Ellen O'Connell, an international-law professor at the Ohio State University who has seen the report. "CIA operatives will think they are covered because they are not going to face liability."
Apparently the lawyer in charge of this policy, Mary L. Walker, had God at her side while coming up with this defense of torture.
But the thing to worry about, of course, is that not only has the Executive Branch thought about such things, but they have actively put policy into place that justifies any activity, legal or not. And this has always been the case with BushCo: I remember Bush claiming after a meeting at his ranch in August of 2002 (a meeting he denied was even about Iraq before anybody even asked, which makes this statement all the more peculiar -- that's why I remember it) that, on the word of his legal advisor, he didn't need Congressional authority to go to war against Iraq.
BushCo has rendered themselves legally above the law. They do not respect the legitimacy of American democracy -- never did, never will. And those who don't tow the (republican xtian) party line and wave the flag and gleefully genuflect at Murka's atrocities will soon find themselves declared "the enemy within."
BushCo ain't leaving, folks.