..out of the dark

From a uncharacteristically stirring speech from an american senator recently. He appears to be outraged that the White House reserves the right to interpret what the scope of their powers are. Since this may, you know, be anathema to any country that is not run by a dictator. Or even run by a lenient and relatively clever dictator.

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2007/12/07/whitehouse-rips-the-white-house/

1. An executive order cannot limit a President. There is no constitutional requirement for a President to issue a new executive order whenever he wishes to depart from the terms of a previous executive order. Rather than violate an executive order, the President has instead modified or waived it.
2. The President, exercising his constitutional authority under Article II, can determine whether an action is a lawful exercise of the President's authority under Article II.
3. The Department of Justice is bound by the President's legal determinations.

Well done, indeed. It's just that your vote, and your silence earlier on helped facilitate the passage of a bill that explicitly left it up to the president to determine the scope of his powers - when it came to torture, and when it came to surveillance. And now he's outraged. My god. Stop the fucking press.