Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, Over!

Under considerable pressure from his betters, President Bush agreed to sign a law that prohibited torture (beginning on page 60) of anyone under U.S. control.

"Holy crap," I thought when I read the news, "somebody finally shamed that shameless bastard into acting like an American rather than some tinhorn banana-republic dictator."

But no, that wasn't to be. Sure, Bush signed the bill into law, but published this statement of the Administration's interpretation of the law, saying "since I'm the President, I can do whatever the hell I want, so fuck you, Rule of Law, and the Constitution you rode in on."

On a related note, last month the DOJ sent congress a letter regarding the Administration's violations of FISA, which allows warrantless wiretaps and other surveillance, so long as a secret court rubber-stamps the activity after the fact. The short version of the letter? "Yeah, we broke the law, but because we are the Executive, we don't have to follow it if we deign not to; fuck you, Congress, and the Founding Fathers you rode in on, We hope this information is helpful." (last sentence)

Apparently, today I'm in the anger stage of grief for my country.

Jack