- George Bush's Continuing War on the First Amendment
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- On July 17, George Bush issued another of his many presidential
"one-man" decrees titled "Executive Order: Blocking Property
of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq." More
than any other chief executive in the nation's history, this President
abuses this practice egregiously as another example of his contempt for
the law.
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- Economist and journalist Ferdinand Lundberg (1905 - 1995)
wrote in his extremely important and revealing book "Cracks in the
Constitution:" The US Constitution "nowhere implicitly or explicitly
gives a President (the) power (to make) new law" by issuing "one-man,
often far-reaching" executive order decrees. However, Lundberg explains
"the President in the American constitutional system is very much
a de facto king....(he is) by far the most powerful formally constituted
political officer on earth." He has "vast power (and) stands
in a position midway between a collective executive (like the British system)
and an absolute dictator." Lundberg wrote those words over 27 years
ago when George Bush was busy making millions (the result of friendly bailouts)
from successive oil business ventures that flopped.
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- George Bush's family connections delivered for him in
business, in spite of his ineptitude, and finally gave him the grand prize
of the presidency he exploited fully ever since. For him and those around
him, the law is just an artifact to be used, abused or ignored at his pleasure.
He earlier usurped "Unitary Executive" power to claim the law
is what he says it is and in six and half years in office issued more signing
statements (over 800) than all past presidents combined. The result is
he expanded presidential power (already immense as Lundberg explained)
at the expense of the other two branches by shifting it dangerously toward
unlimited executive authority, otherwise known as tyranny.
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- The Constitution has no provisions for "Unitary
Executive" power or the right of the chief executive to issue signing
statements that hasn't deterred this President from doing as he pleases.
There's also no authorization for issuing Executive Orders, as just noted,
beyond the following vague language Lundberg explained constitutes the
"essence of presidential power....in a single sentence."
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- Specifically, Article II, section 1 reads: "The
executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of
America." That simple statement, easily passed over and misunderstood,
means the near-limitless power of this office "is concentrated in
the hands of one man." Article II, section 3 then almost nonchalantly
adds: "The President shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed"
without saying Presidents are virtually empowered to make laws as well
as execute them even though nothing in the Constitution specifically permits
this practice.
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- George Bush takes full advantage within and outside the
law. His July 17 Executive Order is another case in point, but a particularly
egregious and dangerous one. It starts off: The President's power stems
from "the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution
and the laws of the United States of America" as well as the International
Emergency Economic Powers Act he invokes as well. The order then continues:
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- -- "....due to the unusual and extraordinary threat
to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed
by acts of violence threatening the peace and stability of Iraq and undermining
efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq
and to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people," George
Bush usurped authority to criminalize the anti-war movement, make the First
Amendment right to protest it illegal, and give himself the right to seize
the assets of persons violating this order.
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- In a message to Congress on the same date, George Bush
then stated:
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- -- "....I hereby report that I have issued an Executive
Order blocking property of persons determined to have committed, or to
pose a significant risk of committing, an act or acts of violence that
have the purpose or effect of threatening the peace or stability of Iraq
or the Government of Iraq or undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction
and political reform in Iraq or to provide humanitarian assistance to the
Iraqi people."
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- In effect, George Bush, on his say alone and in violation
of the Constitution, criminalized dissent July 17, 2007. By so doing,
he shifted the nation one step closer to full-blown tyranny with other
tightening measures sure to follow this one. The dominant media reported
virtually nothing about this nor will they explain or voice concern when
law-abiding Americans are arrested and punished for protesting a criminal
administration's illegal foreign wars. Instead, a full-court press publicly-aired
effort is underway to justify them that provides clues for what may lie
ahead.
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- _____
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- This is excerpted From Stephen Lendman's article:
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- Bush's Criminal War On
The Constitution And Republic -ed
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