Soapbox

Here’s a little heads up for those of you who don’t read the Boston Globe, because otherwise, you might have missed it.

Something has been going on in America while the media was “out”,(which has been most of the last 5 years.) The rule of law- the idea that no one is beyond the reach of justice- has been destroyed. Oh, and congress has been declared quaint and unnecessary. What- did you miss it? Maybe that’s because the Columbus Dispatch and FOX News have been busy reporting Natalie Holloway.

Our President, who put his hand on the Bible (twice) and swore before God to uphold the laws passed by congress, broke that vow, hundreds and hundreds of times. The Boston Globe reports that President George Bush has deliberately and willfully ignored over 750 laws, simply by declaring that he has the right to set aside any statute passed by congress if it conflicts with his interpretation of the law.  Remember the ban on torture John McCain got through congress, which Bush signed but later revealed that his fingers were crossed? Multiply that little stunt by 750.
Bush does not veto the statutes he has problems with and ask Congress to try again- in fact he signs them, often with much fanfare and praise for the authors. Then he quietly issues a “signing Statement”, in effect saying, “Yeah, not so much” which he believes gives him the power to ignore any law that he doesn’t agree with. Oh you and I still have to follow the law, but he doesn’t.

It works out that 1 out of 10 bills that he has signed, he has ignored. In effect, he has given himself a line-item veto; something that the Supreme Court ruled was unconstitutional during the Clinton administration. So I guess he’s also saying that the Supreme Court is irrelevant! But the media doesn’t talk about it.

Bruce Fein, deputy Attorney General for Ronald Reagan says that the American system of government relies upon the leaders of each branch “to exercise some self-restraint”, but that George Bush has declared himself the sole judge of what is within the scope of his own powers, and then ruled for himself every time.
“This is an attempt by the president to have the final word on his own constitutional powers, which eliminates the checks and balances that keep this country a democracy.” Fein said.

Um…does this not bother anybody? Do the evangelicals not care that their hero lied to God? Do the so-called “strict constructionists” not care that George W. Bush is de-constructing our democracy? With all the fuss about “activist judges”, why doesn’t anyone care about an activist president? If nothing else, you’d think the civics teachers of America would be up in arms, because Bush is making a lie out of everything they teach! Imagine if Bill Clinton had smiled and waved and signed hundreds of bills he then ignored because they crimped his style.

President Bush also signed and implemented a budget bill that he knew had not yet been approved by the House of Representatives– apparently because he does not think that body is necessary for his vision of America. Was he ever going to let us know that he has declared the constitution null and void?

This should not be a liberal or conservative issue: the importance of upholding the constitution should be an issue that all Americans agree on. Perhaps we should take a few moments off from freaking out about who wants to get married or who burned the flag a decade ago, and think about whether we want a president to be allowed to set fire to the Constitution and fiddles while it burns.