Signing Statements and Stupidity

The Boston Globe just reported that George Bush has attached over 750 signing statements to the bills he has signed. The signing statements generally state that whatever law he is signing doesn’t apply to him, if he feels like ignoring it. This is probably why he has never vetoed anything. The veto would be a public rejection of the bill, and he prefers to secretly ‘veto’ bills by exempting himself. And the laws that he holds himself above are not limited to national security. Here's the money quote:

Among the laws Bush said he can ignore are military rules and regulations, affirmative-action provisions, requirements that Congress be told about immigration services problems, ''whistle-blower" protections for nuclear regulatory officials, and safeguards against political interference in federally funded research.

He has also admitted to violating multiple laws by spying on Americans. He throws Americans into indefinite detention without charges or access to lawyers. He has turned us into a nation that tortures people and invades countries because we think they may be thinking about maybe doing something bad to us.

He claims to have the right to do all these things, unlike every president before him. Most reputable legal experts say his claims are invalid, and that nobody is above the law. (Conservatives used to believe this too, but it turns out they had their fingers crossed.) Even so, the GOP members of the House and Senate oversight committees really don’t feel the need to investigate. Instead, they’re concerned with brain-dead women, the epidemic of flag burning, and boys kissing boys. They also want to give us all $100 to buy our votes – oops, I mean our gas. Boy, am I glad that they’re on top of things.

Yesterday, while discussing the Great National Anthem Emergency, a guy actually told me that because the Declaration of Independence was written in English, it should not be translated into other language. (I apologize to those of you who were drinking as you read that.) He reversed his position when I asked him if he thought that maybe it would be a good idea if we shared the Declaration with the good citizens of Iraq, as they are trying to build a democracy. But the episode really illustrated what happens to people when they try to follow an ideology like conservativism, where obedience is valued above thought.

It sure seems like the longer the Republicans are in charge, the stupider we get.