The Nixon-Bush doctrine (CNN) {Commentary by Bruce Morton}

[eppur_se_muova]

The Nixon-Bush doctrine

When a duty to protect supercedes a duty to abide by the law


Presidents, in wartime, tend to think they're above the law; commanders-in-chief who rule absolutely.

President Lincoln abolished habeas corpus (the right to a trial) during the Civil War -- clearly unconstitutional, but he did it. President Franklin Roosevelt imprisoned Japanese-Americans -- U.S. citizens -- in concentration camps during World War II -- clearly unconstitutional, but he did it.
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President George W. Bush, commander in chief in the war against terror, is squarely in the Nixon camp. He has asserted his right to hold American citizens indefinitely without charging them with any crime if he labels them "enemy combatants." He holds detainees of other nationalities at Guantanamo, some with access to lawyers, some not.
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Tommy Lynch, director of a project on criminal justice sponsored by CATO, a libertarian think tank, said, "the overriding issue ... is the stance of the administration that they're going to decide in secrecy which laws they're going to follow and which laws they can bypass." Just so.

more (including a zinger from Sen. Leahy) at: http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/02/07/morton.power/index.html

On edit: NIXON-BUSH DOCTRINE: a catchy phrase that bears repeating. and repeating.

[EC]

1. I knew libertarian wouldn't like the spying... n/t