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Another day, another tinpot dictator declaring himself above the law:
When President Bush signed the reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act this month, he included an addendum saying that he did not feel obliged to obey requirements that he inform Congress about how the FBI was using the act’s expanded police powers.
Read this old-but-excellent Dahlia Lithwick piece on the uses and abuses (mostly abuses) of presidential signing statements. In Bush’s worldview, “it is for the president—not Congress or the courts—to determine when the provisions of this bill interfere with his war-making powers, and when they do, he will freely ignore the law.” And these signing statements can have a real impact.
