Misterimpatient

The Supreme Court decision in the Hamdan case is a defeat for the Bush administration, but not a huge one. The court basically said that all our government has to do is play by the rules of war as they exist today. They can’t change the Geneva Convention unilaterally but they can ask Congress to change the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) as it applies to these detainees. This goes rather a long way toward getting Bush/Cheney what they want.

If Bush had gone to Congress late in 2001 or early 2002, he would have gotten what he wanted. Instead, he (and more likely Cheney) decided that they would make a stand for presidential power. This was just one case in point. I doubt I need to point out the others.

This entire presidency has been about the accumulation of imperial presidential power. Along the way they’ve worked hard to gut the social systems, such as they are, but ultimately, I think the Bush presidency will be remembered for how it tried and to some extent succeeded in that power grab.

My prayer for today: Good health to the 5 members of the Supreme Court that voted against the administration in the Hamdan case.

Later…

Filed by misterimpatient at 5:28 pm under Justice, sometimes, Slightly left of Center