Written by ShadowMonkey
Thursday, 14 September 2006
Bear with me for a moment while I address a small list of issues that citizens and the press have raised regarding President Bush and his administration insomuch as his policies may have either disregarded or skirted the very edges of protections guaranteed in the Constitution.
* the use at unprecedented levels of 'signing statements' to express disagreement with, or plans to disregard in certain circumstances, laws passed by the U.S. Congress.
* consistent public and judicial appeals aimed at preventing journalistic and legal investigations into executive branch actions.
consistent public and judicial appeals aimed at preventing journalistic and legal investigations into executive branch actions.
* use of emergency executive powers to circumvent judicial review of actions such a detainee treatment, trials, etc.
* the appointment of partisan judges.
* the establishment of wide-ranging government departments charged, in part, with investigating the actions of American citizens (DHS) and implementing policies that result in use of our own intelligence agencies against us and the warrantless interception of communications by citizens (NSA).
* attempted use of military tribunals to try detainees without due process, and the holding of American citizens without charges or legal representation for extended periods of time.
* use of covert oversees prisons by the CIA to which persons were taken for incarceration and interrogation, and the of the Guantanamo facility to prevent detainees/prisoners from entering our domestic judicial process.
* disregarding clear limitations on government power as spelled out in the Constitution and manipulating the system of checks and balances among the branches of government.
* disregard of, and, in some cases, outright open contempt for, opinions, judicial rulings, and legislation contrary to the administration's views and policies.
OK. So… a pretty clear list that contains nothing that hasn’t been read many times before by people across the nation – some of whom would agree with the statements, and some of whom would not. Now, though, take a look at the following list, taken directly from the list of grievances against King George of England enumerated in the Declaration of Independence:
* He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
* He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
* He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
* He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
* He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.
* For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
* For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
* For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
* In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Now, for the sake of convenience, here are the lists with the corresponding items from each put together:
* He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
the use at unprecedented levels of 'signing statements' to express disagreement with, or plans to disregard in certain circumstances, laws passed by the U.S. Congress.
* He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
consistent public and judicial appeals aimed at preventing journalistic and legal investigations into executive branch actions.
* He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
use of emergency executive powers to circumvent judicial review of actions such a detainee treatment, trials, etc.
* He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
the appointment of partisan judges.
* He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.
the establishment of wide-ranging government departments charged, in part, with investigating the actions of American citizens (DHS) and implementing policies that result in use of our own intelligence agencies against us and the warrantless interception of communications by citizens (NSA).
* For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury.
attempted use of military tribunals to try detainees without due process, and the holding of American citizens without charges or legal representation for extended periods of time.
* For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences.
use of covert oversees prisons by the CIA to which persons were taken for incarceration and interrogation, and the of the Guantanamo facility to prevent detainees/prisoners from entering our domestic judicial process.
* For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments.
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments.
disregarding clear limitations on government power as spelled out in the Constitution and manipulating the system of checks and balances among the branches of government.
* In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
disregard of, and, in some cases, outright open contempt for, opinions, judicial rulings, and legislation contrary to the administration's views and policies.
Interesting. …a thought-provoking correlation between the actions of King George of England more than 200 years ago that led to the American Revolution and the actions of President George Bush in present-day America.
I leave you, dear reader, to draw your own conclusions.
http://www.shadowmonkey.net/articles/general/king-george-of-america.html