Interesting legal note on Salon today, stemming from the coldly frothing pen of Sidney Blumenthal. In it, he points out that President Bush has pioneered a new tactic in deciding which laws to follow. By including in the presidential signing statement a clause on how the president believes it applies to the executive branch, he can more or less ignore it, it seems – think of it as a “I will/will not follow this law” checkbox. Very wily.
A system of checks and balances? Of laws, not of men? I don’t think so. But if that’s not what the American people want, who’s to argue with them?