Issue #51
Last Update May 5, 2007
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National Hall of Shame by Sten Grynir October 1, 2006 The passage of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 is another step towards an unchecked Presidency. If this act remains in force, the President has now acquired the power to imprison, or indeed, disappear, any non-citizen, anywhere in the world, on his say-so alone, an action unreviewable by the courts. The use of torture against non-citizens has now been regularized, given legal status by a Congress unwilling to defend the Constitution or even its own prerogatives. Congress and the Judiciary have been marginalized in this area.
President Bush's objective since his election in 2000 seems to have been to acquire unbridled power and to eliminate all institutions that might check his actions and thwart his desires. The route to that power was to be through the President's war powers as Commander in Chief. This was most clearly outlined in statements by John Yoo, previously of the Justice Department, and currently at the American Enterprise Institute and Berkeley. Yoo's position, adopted by the President and his subordinates, states that Congress only has power to rein in a wartime president by withholding funds. The judiciary is not a check on the President's war powers, since these powers put him above the law. Yoo also holds that the President has sole authority to interpret international treaties "because treaty interpretation is a key feature of the conduct of foreign affairs".
Since unchecked power is only to be had during wartime, war must be created, permanently if possible. From the beginning of his administration, plans were developed for military confrontation with Iraq, Iran and North Korea. 9/11 gave President Bush his war, a bit earlier than he had planned, and caught him napping. Dislodging the Taliban in Afghanistan in order to crush al Qaeda was popular with the American people, indeed most of the world, but was finite in scope and time. Shifting discourse to the “war on terror” gave Mr. Bush a permanent war, one which could never be won or lost. Iraq was the means by which the nebulous war on terror could be given concrete form, so that the war on terror could seem like a real war.
In reality, the war on terror is no more a real war than the war on drugs or the war on poverty. Terrorism, as our European allies and Japan have demonstrated effectively, is a police problem, not a military one. It's true that Afghanistan and Iraq are real wars, but they are wars we started; Iraq, at least was unnecessary from the standpoint of fighting terrorism – indeed, it has been counterproductive. A sane Administration would drop the wartime terminology, and thus discard the rationale for the Presidential power grab.
By passing the Military Commissions Act of 2006, Congress demonstrated that it was unwilling to obstruct the path to imperium. Republicans, with two exceptions, voted to gut the Constitution. The two exceptions are Lincoln Chafee, or Rhode Island, who had the courage to buck his party and his President to preserve democratic values, and Olympia Snowe of Maine, who at least abstained. 32 Democratic senators voted against the bill; twelve disregarded their oath to uphold the Constitution and rolled over for the President. To their eternal shame, they are:
Thomas Carper, Delaware
Tim Johnson, South Dakota
Mary Landrieu, Louisiana
Frank Lautenberg, New Jersey
Joseph Lieberman, Connecticut
Robert Menendez, New Jersey
Bill Nelson, Florida
Benjamin Nelson, Nebraska
Mark Pryor, Arkansas
John Rockefeller, West Virginia
Ken Salazar, Colorado
Debbie Stabenow, Michigan
These should be recalled, if possible, and defeated in their next election, if not.
The Democratic leadership, although voting correctly, nevertheless deserves censure. If ever an issue called for a filibuster, this bill was it. A filibuster might have killed the bill, or at least forced the removal of some of its more egregious content. The leadership couldn't even enforce party discipline; 12 members voting for the bill is a substantial percentage of Democratic Senate ranks. Once again the Democratic senatorial powers-that-be proved cowardly in confrontation with Republicans over national security issues. It's time for new leadership.
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