BUSH'S DISPOSABLE CONSTITUTION-By Scott Horton

[kpete]

March 3, 7:16 AM, 2009 · No Comment · Previous · Next
George W. Bush’s Disposable Constitution

By Scott Horton
..................

John Yoo’s Constitution is unlike any other I have ever seen. It seems to consist of one clause: appointing the President as commander-in-chief. The rest of the Constitution was apparently printed in disappearing ink.

We need to know how the memo was used. Bradbury suggests it was not much relied upon; I don’t believe that for a second. Moreover Bradbury’s decision to wait to the very end before repealing it suggests that someone in the Bush hierarchy was keen on having it.

It’s pretty clear that it served several purposes. Clearly it was designed to authorize sweeping warrantless surveillance by military agencies such as the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency. Using special new surveillance programs that required the collaboration of telecommunications and Internet service providers, these agencies were sweeping through the emails, IMs, faxes, and phone calls of tens of millions of Americans. Clearly such unlawful surveillance occurred. But the language of the memos suggest that much more was afoot, including the deployment of military units and military police powers on American soil. These memos suggest that John Yoo found a way to treat the Posse Comitatus Act as suspended.

.................

We may not have realized it at the time, but in the period from late 2001-January 19, 2009, this country was a dictatorship. The constitutional rights we learned about in high school civics were suspended. That was thanks to secret memos crafted deep inside the Justice Department that effectively trashed the Constitution. What we know now is likely the least of it.

more at:
http://harpers.org/archive/2009/03/hbc-90004488

[Winterblues]

1. We knew that when Joseph Padilla was picked up on a Chicago street

and wisked away to some off shore out of country gulag and denied all of his American Constitutional Rights. No one in America even blinked.

[aquart]

4. Some of us blinked.

Some of us noticed that an AMERICAN CITIZEN was being denied his constitutional rights. We even said so. It got lost in the blizzard of catastrophes.

[aquart]

2. Uh, some of us knew.

We knew there was a bloodless coup in 2000 which the media ignored. We were pretty stunned by it. Some didn't believe it had happened, that it could have happened in such silence. But WE weren't silent. We knew it happened. We said so. We were told to shut up and move on.

When the newspapers wonder why they're dying, they don't remember the day they made themselves irrelevant. When they forced us to search out the news and report it ourselves.

But some of us do.

[agent46]

3. It was clear

It was clear to anyone who was paying attention.

[spanone]

5. king george....he told us it would be easier if he were a dictator.....and he was

[malaise]

6. Has Rush discussed these yet

I mean he is the defender of the constitution - right?