Lawless Leader Land
"At any rate, we will seriously look at the findings, obviously. And one thing I'm not going to do, though, is I'm not going to jeopardize the safety of the American people. People have got to understand that."
Uncurious George only respects one thing. His Decider powers. The ink had not dried on the Supremes decision before he was, at the very least, sticking his chin out in defiance of the ruling. If we deconstruct W's statement here it does seem quite plausible that he will NOT abide by the Supreme's decision. Even though the Court said he and his administration have committed war crimes by violating the Geneva Convention, W. presses on with his defiance of law.
"...I'm not going to jeopardize the safety of the American people..."
Why say this? Here W. is clearly saying that if this decision limits his alleged unitary executive powers(which of course it plainly does), then he's not following it, not obeying this rule or ANY rule if HE is protecting the American people.
Almost every assertion that this administration has made about executive powers was delivered a backhanded "bitchslap" by this ruling. The ruling reinforces the truth of Congress' role in war time. It said the executive doesn't go it alone. It restated our nation's connection to the rest of the world thru the Geneva Convention agreement. The Court pointed out that the Geneva provisions are still binding today not just "quaint" as the executive branch mocked. Special military tribunals that allow the executive branch to do what it wants in secret with no oversight rules was rendered "illegal" by this ruling. W. claims he can disregard laws passed by Congress if he so desires in his protection of American citizens. The Court said of the president, "..he may not disregard limitations that Congress" has placed on the executive thru law. And for the absurd notion set forth by the administration and its lackeys about the Authorization to Use Military Force (AUMF) that Congress passed before launching the "war on terror" granting the executive powers to do as he pleases the Supremes responded with this:
"there is nothing in the text or legislative history of the AUMF even hinting that Congress intended to expand or alter the authorization set forth in . . . the UCMJ." (Uniform Code of Military Justice). As Glenn Greenwald points out, replace UCMJ with FISA and W.'s warrantless wiretapping also becomes a figment of his illegal imagination.
Oh, he's not going to abide by this new ruling. He will go down to the bitter end being lawless. But at least one branch of our government has righted the democracy ship even if it's only temporarily.
